On 3 November 2026, the international higher education analytics agency QS Quacquarelli Symonds published the QS Asia University Rankings 2027. This year’s edition features 1,722 universities from 26 countries and territories.
Kazakhstan is represented by 51 universities, seven more than last year. According to QS, this is an all-time record for the country’s higher education and exceeds the combined total of all other Central Asian countries. By number of ranked universities, Kazakhstan places tenth among the 26 countries and territories.
Kazakhstan remains the only country in the region with universities in the top 100: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University ranks 46th, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University 62nd, and Satbayev University 89th.
Nazarbayev University climbed 62 places to 139th, entering the top 200 in only its second year in the ranking. Sarsen Amanzholov East Kazakhstan University improved by 64 places, to 618th.
Seven Kazakhstani universities appear in the ranking for the first time:
- Kh. Dosmukhamedov Atyrau University
- M. Utemisov West Kazakhstan University
- M.S. Narikbayev KAZGUU University
- Astana IT University
- K. Kulazhanov Kazakh University of Technology and Business
- International Educational Corporation
- Shymkent University
Ranked Kazakhstani universities are located in 19 cities, most of them in Almaty (17) and Astana (7).
QS analytical materials show that Kazakhstani universities perform strongly in learning environment, academic mobility and internationalisation. The greatest potential for growth lies in research productivity: the number of publications and their citations.
НАО «РНТБ» and its branches support researchers along this path: they provide access to scientific databases including EBSCO, eLIBRARY.RU and Lan, carry out patent searches, index research papers by UDC, IPC and GRNTI, and help locate and order dissertations. Learn more in the Services section.
НАО «РНТБ» congratulates the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan and all ranked universities!
Full results: topuniversities.com/asia-university-rankings
