Ranking
Institutional Accreditation
Institutional Evaluation
Programme Accreditation
Nazarbayev University has debuted in the top 30 percent of international research universities in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024. THE WUR is a leading global league table of university performance.
NU secured a position in the range of 501-600, thereby demonstrating the best performance among universities in Kazakhstan, and the wider region of Central Asia and Caucasus.
THE WUR uses Elsevier research performance data, reputation data based on peer reviews of active researchers, and self-reported financial and international outlook data to calculate teaching and research scores. This data-driven methodology comprehensively assesses research-intensive universities' performance, which aligns particularly well with NU’s research mission.
NU intends to reach the top 20% of global universities by 2030.
NU intends to participate in the International Quality Review (IQR) by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, UK).
Institutional accreditation by QAA will grant external recognition that NU complies with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG).
The University will be updating the wider community on completion of key milestones in the institutional accreditation process.
Nazarbayev University was engaged in the Institutional Evaluation Programme (IEP) of the European University Association (EUA) between 2017 and 2020 to obtain an independent external review of its academic quality, research and strategic management practices.
NU successfully completed the initial and follow-up phases of the external evaluation and continues its efforts at self-improvement. Please read relevant reports on the IEP EUA website.
NU strives to achieve internationally recognised academic excellence, and prioritise programme accreditation through external bodies of the highest repute.
The Graduate School of Public Policy's Master’s programmes in Public Administration and Public Policy were successfully accredited by the European Association for Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA) in 2019 and the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) in 2023.
The English for Academic Purposes programme of the Centre for Preparatory Studies was accredited by the British Association of Lecturers in English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP) in 2020. NU is the first university in the CIS countries to gain BALEAP accreditation. The School is now preparing the BALEAP reaccreditation application.
The Graduate School of Business is pursuing the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation, and the Association of MBAs (AMBA) and the Business Graduates Association (BGA) joint accreditation for its programmes. AACSB and AMBA are two of the three main global accreditation bodies in business education (the "triple crown"). The School is now engaged in the annual review process for AACSB accreditation and assessment stage of AMBA & BGA joint accreditation.
13 programmes of 3 NU Schools - Schools of Engineering and Digital Sciences (SEDS), Mining and Geosciences (SMG), and Sciences and Humanities (SSH, STEM) - are in preparation for the application for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accreditation.
The list of programmes:
- BEng in: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering; Chemical & Materials Engineering; Electrical & Computer Engineering; Civil & Environmental Engineering; BSc in: Robotics Engineering; Computer Science (SEDS);
- BSc in: Geology; Petroleum Engineering; Mining Engineering (SMG);
- BSc in: Physics; Chemistry; Mathematics; Biological Sciences (SSH).
The Schools have revised their programmes to align them with ABET accreditation requirements and are now engaged in the data collection process.
The School of Medicine is pursuing the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) accreditation through the Eurasian Centre for Accreditation and Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Health Care (ECAQA) for its Doctor of Medicine (MD) programme. The School is finalising its self-assessment stage.
The Graduate School of Education is progressing towards applying for the International Programme Accreditation (IPA) by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). The QAA, an independent quality body for higher education in the UK, is one of the world’s experts in quality assurance.