UCA's Academic Programmes

Central to the vision of UCA is to create an outstanding teaching institution that excels in the generation and application of knowledge. Academic programmes combine the student-centred environment of a liberal arts college with the intellectual excitement of being at the frontiers of knowledge offered by a research university.

They blend a general humanistic and scientific education with one that offers marketable skills - deeply rooted in the principles of research, ethics, and economic development. This educational paradigm was chosen because it best reflects the University’s purpose to produce graduates who will provide scientific, academic, political, and creative leadership.

The language of instruction for undergraduate and graduate studies is English, with a requirement that all undergraduate students be fluent in their native language and Russian. Most incoming students are likely to require some preparation in English academic writing, computing, and quantitative reasoning. A one-year undergraduate preparatory programme and a three-month graduate preparatory programme are planned for entering students.

The School of Arts and Sciences (undergraduate)
 The School of Arts and Sciences will open its doors when the construction of the main campus is complete. The School advances innovations in undergraduate education: a core curriculum to be taken in the first 2 years exposes all students to modes of thought and method of inquiry in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. It includes teaching of ethics across the curriculum to support the moral reasoning students need to become responsible, compassionate, and active civicminded members of society; and features a university-wide undergraduate entrepreneurship programme. The undergraduate programme seeks to foster a research-oriented education culture by having students engage in original research projects starting in their second year.

The integrative majors and minors combining several disciplines (for example, human life sciences) are a hallmark of the undergraduate programme. Leaders across the educational spectrum are emphasising the integration of knowledge and multidisciplinary perspectives. UCA will be the first university in Central Asia to offer integrative majors and minors, which are also more responsive to labour market opportunities. A heavy emphasis on science and technology is another difference UCA offers to the provision of undergraduate education in the region.

The School has three focus areas with the following initial disciplines:

  • Humanities: history, languages, literature, and philosophy;
  • Social Sciences: anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology;
  • Science and Technology: biology, chemistry, engineering sciences, mathematics and computing, and physics.


The Graduate School of Development
 Designed primarily as a professional graduate school, the programmes in Graduate School of Development are organised to address the unique resources and needs of the region by generating a pool of highly skilled professionals and decision-makers, and fostering policy-oriented research in the fields of:

  • Business and Economic Development;
  • Education Policy;
  • Human Resource Development;
  • Natural Resource Management and Environment;
  • Public Administration and Public Policy;
  • Rural and Regional Development;
  • Tourism and Leisure Studies.


It is envisioned that each of these areas will evolve into independent Institutes as a critical mass of courses, faculty, and research is reached to enable students to obtain specialised degrees in the future. The first degree programme planned for the School is a Master of Science in Economic Development. Uniquely designed to respond to critical priorities in the region, the two-year programme includes a core curriculum in economics, public policy, development, financial analysis, and an inter-disciplinary analysis of perspectives on social change. The second year is devoted to specialisations within the fields of one of the Graduate Institutes. The concept paper and proposed design of the Master’s programme was discussed extensively in a validation process that included consultations with over 150 international experts from academia, business and government in the three Founding States, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States.