Traditionally, Kazakhstan wasn’t on the radar of worldwide college students, with the US, UK, Canada, and several other European nations historically remaining the highest locations. An unlimited, post-Soviet nation in Central Asia definitely wasn’t thought of a go-to vacation spot amongst worldwide college students, even inside the area, the place nations like Russia, China, Japan, and South Korea have lengthy been the leaders.
Nevertheless, in recent times, Kazakhstan has develop into rather more in style with people trying to research overseas. A lot in order that worldwide college students within the nation have reached file numbers.
There are a variety of things behind this enhance, one being the Russia-Ukraine battle. For many years, Russian universities have been the establishments of alternative for these within the Russian language, literature, or Russian and Eurasian research; notably for these from the US, Europe, and East and South Asia.
With Russia turning into remoted on the worldwide tutorial stage, a rising variety of these people are selecting to pursue increased schooling in Kazakhstan; a Russian-speaking nation with more and more rising world connections. Kazakhstan has a shared linguistic and cultural historical past with Russia, however gives an accessible, secure, and internationally-minded setting, in distinction to Russia’s visa points, banking restrictions, and safety considerations.
Kazakhstan is seen as a secure, impartial, and secure different for college students from different nations dealing with geopolitical upheaval
Its geographic proximity to Asia, Africa, the Center East, and Jap Europe can also be a draw, alongside decrease prices of residing in comparison with Western nations, and rising tutorial high quality and funding in increased schooling. Kazakhstan can also be seen as a secure, impartial, and secure different for college students from different nations dealing with geopolitical upheaval, comparable to Iran, Afghanistan, and quite a lot of African nations.
Curiously, a rising variety of worldwide college students from Russia itself are selecting Kazakhstan for his or her research; there are actually greater than 3,000 Russian college students all through Kazakhstan, up from 1,263 in 2021. At Nazarbayev College particularly, we had 32 Russian college students in 2024, up from only one pupil in 2021.
This is smart; as a post-Soviet nation, Kazakhstan feels acquainted and linguistically comfy for Russian college students, whereas additionally providing a strategic academic benefit. After being expelled from the Bologna Course of in 2022, Russia shifted towards a extra remoted schooling system, limiting worldwide diploma recognition, mobility, and tutorial cooperation with Europe.
Kazakhstan continues to be a part of the Bologna Course of, permitting graduates better entry to work and research alternatives inside Europe. It allows pupil change and mobility programmes of as much as one tutorial 12 months at main European universities. At some universities, rising worldwide partnerships have enabled tutorial elements to be delivered at accomplice establishments within the US, Europe, and Asia.
And the flexibility for Kazakhstan to supply what Russia now not can isn’t just famous by college students, however faculties themselves. It has develop into a beneficial vacation spot for research overseas and language programmes amongst American and European universities. For instance, in 2023, Middlebury (USA) absolutely relocated their Russian language programmes from Russia to Kazakhstan.
The federal government in Kazakhstan has been actively engaged in efforts to extend the nation’s enchantment for the worldwide neighborhood, hoping to draw 150,000 worldwide college students by 2029 by strengthening collaborations with Western establishments via worldwide department campuses and joint analysis centres. On the identical time, the federal government is backing synthetic intelligence innovation, funding student-led startups, and creating pathways for entrepreneurship via startup incubators and accelerators.
Kazakhstan’s fast rise as a research vacation spot of alternative has been additional pushed by the growth of English-taught programmes, state and university-based scholarships, and improved infrastructure, positioning the nation as a competitor on the worldwide schooling map. For instance, Nazarbayev College, which began with one worldwide pupil in 2013, now hosts worldwide college students from 34 nations all over the world, highlighting the rising worldwide enchantment.
As somebody who works intently with worldwide college students, I get to be a part of their journey from the very starting; serving to with visa purposes earlier than they arrive, and supporting them as they settle in and modify to a brand new setting. I usually hear commandment for the convenience of the visa course of, even for many who have to use from third nations. In our expertise, pupil visa rejections are extraordinarily uncommon. This provides college students a powerful sense of safety and confidence as they put together for his or her academic journey.
The hospitality and warmness of locals can’t be ignored. In spite of everything, college students wouldn’t wish to research in a location the place they really feel unwelcome
And the hospitality and warmness of locals can’t be ignored. In spite of everything, college students wouldn’t wish to research in a location the place they really feel unwelcome. College students usually state how genuinely stunned they’re by how welcome they really feel as quickly as they arrive in Astana, Kazakhstan’s capital.
Some say they really feel like celebrities; folks cease to speak to them, ask the place they’re from, and take footage with them. It’s these small however real moments that make an enormous distinction and assist college students from all around the world really feel at dwelling in Kazakhstan.
Russia’s actions in recent times have offered a possibility for Kazakhstan to show its worth as a vacation spot for increased schooling, providing what many worldwide college students can now not obtain from Russia, but additionally rather more past that. It’s not simply the geopolitical local weather that influences the mobility of worldwide college students; it’s the efforts of the nation itself and the welcome from these inside.
