In December 2009, for the first time in history of Kazakhstani education there was a holding of the first independent national accreditation of a higher education institution. The first successfully accredited educational institution in Kazakhstan is Karaganda Economic University. The accreditation was conducted by the Independent Kazakh Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (IQAA). Karaganda Economic University was accredited for a course of 5 years until 2015.
The accreditation procedure was carried out in accordance with international standards, with the account of the experience of foreign quality assurance agencies. Partner agencies of the IQAA, Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQA) and Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education and Career Development (AKKORK, Russia) provided their experts for participation in the accreditation of Karaganda Economic University in the framework of the external visit. At the completion of the self-evaluation procedure of the university and the external visit, after activities for a duration of one year, there was a meeting of the Accreditation Council, which is responsible for decision-making procedures in the course of the accreditation.
The Accreditation Council consists of the leading specialists in the field of higher education, including representatives of the Mazhilis of the RK, National Association of Employers "Atameken", People’s Democratic Party "Nur Otan", National Academy of Education and Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Accreditation Council made a decision to accredit Karaganda Economic University.
Karaganda Economic University was established in 1966, and transformed in 1997. This University offers a wide range of economic specialties on the levels of Bachelor, Master, and PhD programmes. The University is one of the leading humanitarian and economic universities of the country, and it was included in the top 20 of the best higher education institutions of Kazakhstan according to the ranking of universities in 2008. Approximately 10,000 of students study at Karaganda Economic University. During the process of passing the institutional accreditation, Karaganda Economic University demonstrated its compliance with the standards and proved that the university activities comply with the set mission and objectives, which are being successfully implemented by the university.