The Otanstalar Foundation published information about kandases who received grants to Kazakhstani universities. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Sputnik Kazakhstan.

This year, under the 4% state educational quota for ethnic Kazakhs abroad, 2,378 candidates became grant holders. The official statement says: "In 2026, 2,378 out of 2,497 grants allocated under the 4% quota were utilized. This is one of the highest results in the history of the quota. The majority of allocated places are in technical, natural-mathematical, and pedagogical directions."

Specialties chosen by kandases

  • 01Engineering, processing, and construction – 667 graduates;
  • 02Pedagogical sciences – 489 graduates;
  • 03Information and communication technologies – 415 graduates;
  • 04Natural sciences, mathematics, and statistics – 367 graduates;
  • 05Healthcare – 108 graduates;
  • 06Service sector – 87 graduates;
  • 07Arts and humanities – 77 graduates;
  • 08Social sciences, journalism, and information – 60 graduates;
  • 09Business, management, and law – 56 graduates;
  • 10Agriculture and bioresources – 31 graduates;
  • 11Veterinary medicine – 9 graduates;
  • 12Foreign branches (Heriot-Watt and Arizona universities) – 12 graduates.

How the number of grant holders tripled

Until 2023, the utilization rate of grants allocated to kandases did not even reach 40%. For example, in 2022 this figure was only 22.4%. The main reasons:

  • 01Shortage of schools providing full secondary education in Kazakh in countries where kandases live;
  • 02Mismatch of educational programs;
  • 03The subject "History of Kazakhstan" is not taught abroad;
  • 04The requirement to score a threshold score on all UNT subjects.

With the intervention of the Otanstalar Foundation, an important regulatory change was adopted in 2024. According to it, the requirement for kandas applicants to score a threshold score on each subject was removed. Since 2025, kandases take a test in three subjects – reading literacy and two specialized subjects. As a result, last year the number of grant holders immediately increased to 2,138. And in 2026, 95.2% of allocated grants were utilized.