Paying for a year of university in Kazakhstan may require several months' salary for a family. At some institutions, tuition reaches 7.6 million tenge, equivalent to roughly 23 median salaries, reports infohub.kz.

Tuition fees at Kazakhstani higher education institutions rise every year. According to analysts at Freedom Life Insurance Company, based on recently published rates, tuition at some Kazakh universities starts at 1.1 million tenge. Given that the median wage in Kazakhstan in the first quarter of 2026 was 331,527 tenge, one year of study at such a university would cost about 3.3 times that salary.

However, at some universities, tuition is much higher. For example, a year at KIMEP (Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research) averages 4.9–5.88 million tenge, or about 14.8–17.7 median salaries. Even more expensive is Nazarbayev University at 7.6 million tenge per year, roughly 23 median salaries.

Here is how many median salaries one year of tuition costs at various universities (base: median wage in Kazakhstan – 331,527 tenge, first quarter 2026): Al-Farabi Kazakh National University – 1.1–1.9 million tenge (3.3–5.7 salaries); G. Daukeev Almaty University of Power Engineering and Telecommunications – 1.2–1.7 million tenge (3.6–5.1); Narxoz University – 1.4–2.3 million tenge (4.2–6.9); Turan University – 1.48–1.81 million tenge (4.5–5.5); KazGASA – 1.9–2.0 million tenge (5.7–6.0); KIMEP – 4.9–5.88 million tenge (14.8–17.7); Nazarbayev University – 7.6 million tenge (≈23). Source: Freedom Life.

To assess the budget burden, analysts assumed a family should not spend more than 15% of its total annual income on education. Thus, to pay for a year of university, say 1.5 million tenge, a family would need a combined monthly income of about 833,000 tenge. That is 2.5 times the median wage of a single Kazakh worker and nearly 1.8 times the average salary (461,486 tenge in the first quarter).

Estimated comfortable monthly family budget for paying tuition: at tuition of 7.6 million tenge per year, family income should be 4.22 million tenge per month; at 5 million tenge – 2.78 million tenge per month; at 2 million tenge – 1.11 million tenge per month; at 1.5 million tenge – 833,000 tenge per month; at 1.2 million tenge – 667,000 tenge per month. A single worker's income does not reflect the total family budget, savings, number of children, or mandatory expenses. However, calculations show that paying tuition without prior savings is affordable mainly for families whose total income significantly exceeds the average level. Source: Freedom Life.

If two people in a family each earn the median wage, their combined income would be only about 663,000 tenge per month. That is less than the amount analysts consider comfortable for paying tuition, meaning such a family would have to spend more than 15% of their income on education.

It is also worth reminding that Kazakhstanis can open education deposits for their children to help save for tuition.