Bolashak pays for the whole degree: tuition, a monthly stipend, flights, medical insurance, visa fees and study materials. Kazakhstan has run it since 1993, and the administering body, the Center for International Programs, was established by government decree in 2005.
The obligation on the other side is the part to plan around. Scholarship holders return to Kazakhstan and work in their field for five years in Astana, Almaty or Shymkent, three years in the regions, or two years in district-level towns. Taking a grant from your university or employer to co-finance the study cuts a year off that term.
You need the university place before you need the scholarship. Every category requires an unconditional offer, financial conditions aside, from an institution on the programme's approved list, so the university application comes first and the funding decision follows it.
The bachelor's route is the narrowest. It opened in 2026 and carries 20 places, and it is reserved for students who placed first, second or third in an approved international olympiad or science project competition within the last three years, in a subject matching the specialty they apply for. Master's study is where the programme's weight sits, at 400 places, and it is organised by applicant category rather than by open competition: rural applicants, engineering and technical workers, medical workers, civil servants and nuclear industry workers each face their own experience and grade conditions.
Kazakh language certification at B1 is required across every category, through KAZTEST or Qazaq Resmi Test, alongside the foreign-language score for the country of study.
The programme description, the applicant requirements, the 2026 application dates and allocation and the work obligation terms were checked on 15 September 2026.