Kazakhstan awards over 500 scholarships to international students
A total of 550 international students have been awarded scholarships to study in Kazakhstan for the 2026–2027 academic year under the country's state scholarship program for foreign nationals, including ethnic Kazakhs who are not citizens of Kazakhstan, Qazinform News Agency reports.
According to Kazakhstan's Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the program, launched in 2019, aims to strengthen international academic cooperation, enhance the appeal of Kazakhstan's higher education system and attract talented students from abroad to the country's universities.
For 2026, the government allocated 490 scholarships for bachelor's programs, 50 for master's degrees, and 10 for doctoral studies.
A total of 16,098 applicants from 71 countries took part in the selection process, including a large number of ethnic Kazakhs who are not citizens of Kazakhstan. According to the ministry, the program expands access to quality higher education in Kazakhstan for ethnic Kazakhs while strengthening their ties with their historical homeland.
The scholarship program is being implemented by 27 Kazakh universities, offering 886 academic programs. The largest numbers of scholarship recipients will study at Kokshetau University named Shokan Ualikhanov, Astana IT University, Kazakh National Research Technical University, L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, and Kazakh University of International Relations and World Languages named after Ablai Khan, among other institutions.
The ministry noted that the program's geographic reach expanded significantly this year, with scholarship recipients representing 49 countries in 2026, up from 26 countries a year earlier. The largest numbers of applications came from citizens of Palestine, Indonesia, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. For the first time, the list of scholarship recipients also includes students from the United States, Italy, Germany, the Maldives and South Korea.
The ministry said the program helps strengthen Kazakhstan's international reputation as an educational hub in Central Asia, expand academic cooperation and attract more international students to the country's universities.
Earlier, Team Kazakhstan claimed one gold and three silver medals at the International Chemistry Olympiad 2026 held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
