Abstract:

One of the key paradigms in higher education development worldwide is international dimension which arises intense interest and debate in the last two decades. The new realities facing the higher education sector cause dramatic changes to reforming and restructuring higher education introduce new trends and developments and pose different challenges for internationalization, both domestically and globally. Kazakhstan is of no exception in an attempt to internationalizing its higher education. Since its independence gained in 1991 the government has been investing much to constantly reform the education system. Nowadays, driven by the forces of globalization and internationalization and an ambitious goal to enter 50 most developed countries, it has made its top priority to invest in education with a significant attention paid to the internationalization of higher education. For a long time, the government sent hundreds of students on fully-paid scholarships to the US and Europe to get an advanced education. Now, one of the new trends in internationalizing higher education is an attempt to provide a world-class education at home. This trend has brought to a launch of an ambitious international higher education project – establishment of a Nazarbayev University, an English speaking world-class research university based on international standards which aims to be a premier education hub in Kazakhstan and Central Eurasia.

The proposed paper examines trends and developments in the internationalization landscape of higher education in Kazakhstan, new governmental policies and initiatives. A specific focus is made on Nazarbayev University representing a new trend and an innovative experiment in internationalizing higher education in Kazakhstan. The paper attempts to explore such issues as: what is innovative in this experiment, what are the strategies that the university is driven by, what are the features that set Nazarbayev University apart from other Kazakhstani universities, what are the challenges that the university faces, and what makes it a promising innovation in higher education?

Keywords:

Internationalization, globalization, internationalization strategies, Higher Education, innovation, international partnership, Kazakhstan.