ALMATY – Kazakhstan continued to strengthen its position as Central Asia’s leading higher education hub as Almaty reached its highest-ever position in the QS Best Student Cities 2027 ranking and the country recorded another year of growth in international student enrollment.
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Astana also improved its position, rising eight places to 119th, reinforcing Kazakhstan’s growing role as a regional higher education hub, reported the Ministry of Science and Higher Education’s press service.
Published by international higher education analytical agency QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the ranking assesses 150 cities worldwide that meet population and university criteria based on the QS World University Rankings 2027. Cities are evaluated across six indicators: university rankings, student mix, employer activity, affordability, desirability and student views.
University ecosystem and affordability
One of Almaty’s strongest advantages remains its concentration of higher education institutions. The city is home to nine universities included in the QS World University Rankings 2027, placing it 50th globally in the university rankings indicator, which measures the overall strength of a city’s university ecosystem.
Kazakhstan also continues to rank highly for affordability. Astana placed ninth in the world for the cost of studying and living, while Almaty ranked 24th, making both cities among the most affordable destinations for international students.
The rankings also recorded improvements in the student diversity indicator for both cities, reflecting the increasing international composition of Kazakhstan’s university communities and the growing attractiveness of the country’s higher education sector to students from abroad.
International student enrollment
The improved rankings coincide with rising international enrollment. During the 2025-2026 academic year, 35,075 international students from 88 countries studied at Kazakhstan’s universities, an 11% increase compared with the previous academic year.
The government has identified the internationalization of higher education as one of the priorities of the Concept for the Development of Higher Education and Science for 2023-2029. According to the ministry, Kazakhstan aims to increase the number of international students to 100,000 by 2029.
Officials attribute the growth in international enrollment to Kazakhstan’s competitive tuition and living costs, strategic geographic location, expanding number of English-language degree programs and increasing demand for education in medicine, engineering and information technology.
Foreign university branches
Kazakhstan has also expanded cooperation with leading international universities. More than 30 branches of foreign universities now operate in the country, including Cardiff University, Coventry University, and universities from the United States, South Korea, Italy, Russia, China and France.
Science and Higher Education Minister Sayasat Nurbek told The Astana Times in an interview that expanding branches of leading foreign universities is central to achieving the goal of transforming Kazakhstan into a global education hub.
“Branches of foreign universities allow our students to pursue an international education without leaving Kazakhstan. This greatly reduces the financial burden on families and opens world-class programs to a much wider range of young people,” he said.
According to the ministry, these partnerships contribute to improving the quality of higher education, expanding academic cooperation and strengthening the international integration of Kazakhstan’s university system.
Nurbek also mentioned that quality assurance has become a cornerstone of the national strategy to expand foreign university branches. To reinforce credibility, Kazakhstan has officially recognized the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) as an accreditation body. This allows local and international campuses to be evaluated against the same rigorous standards applied in Europe and worldwide, strengthening confidence in degrees earned in the local schools.
To achieve its target of attracting 100,000 international students by 2029, the country plans to continue expanding English-language programs, modernizing university infrastructure, increasing the number of student dormitories, and creating comfortable and safe conditions for international students.
Officials said these measures are part of broader efforts to strengthen Kazakhstan’s position in the global higher education market and establish the country as one of the leading academic centers in Central Asia.
