Serving the western region of Kazakhstan, Zhubanov has grown from a Soviet-era teacher-training college, founded in 1935, to a "multidisciplinary classical university". It is named for an outstanding linguist and victim to Stalin’s purges in Kazakhstan.
The university claims to have "absorbed the achievements of great ancestors and its own rich experience in the fields of education and science".
In 2022, it had a roll of just under 15,000 students, including 600 master’s candidates spread across the faculties of history, natural science, physics and mathematics, education, philology, economics and law, technical (engineering) and professional and creative (arts and design). Those studying in Kazakh outnumber Russian-medium students roughly five to one.
The university has just under 1,000 overseas students. These are the product of 125 international agreements, including links with 13 Turkish institutions and a partnership agreed in March 2023 with Heriot-Watt University for research collaboration and staff development.
More than 750 students take language courses, among them 358 studying a Chinese language and 222 studying Korean. Four double diploma courses are shared with the University of Oil, in Beijing, and six with the University of Bydgoszcz, in Poland.
Alumni include 2014 classical-music graduate Dimash Kudaibergen, a singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, who is a major star in China and Russia.
