Pre-university training includes Humanities Lyceum, Boarding School “Daryn”, Ecology Class, and preparatory department conducting courses for representatives of Kazakh Diaspora. Humanities Lyceum and Boarding School “Daryn” are experimental basis for chairs of the university because new technologies and methods of teaching are tested here. Representatives of Kazakh Diaspora from Mongolia, China and Russia are taught at the preparatory department. Having finished the undergraduate course they enter the universities of Kazakhstan successfully. The work of preparatory department helps the youth of Kazakh Diaspora from near and far abroad to get education in native language.

About 10,000 students are being taught at 10 faculties of university at present. There are the Faculty of Geography and Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Information technologies, the Faculty of History and Philology, Engineering Faculty, the Faculty of Music and Pedagogics, the Faculty of Transport and Construction work, the Faculty of Physical education, the Faculty of Economy, and the Faculty of law). Students are trained in 85 specialities. Twenty nine chairs of the university conduct educational process. Teaching staff with science-degrees and academic ranks consists of 146 people. There are 30 Doctors of Science and Professors and 116 Candidates of Science among them. Measures to improve the informatization, computerization and structuring of the educational process are taken constantly.
Multilevel system of teaching is being established; schemes of students’ turnover with specialized educational establishments have been worked out, computerized testing, intermediate control, students’ and teachers’ rating systems have been introduced.
Master Course is conducted in 11 specialities: Chemistry, Biology, Economy, Journalism, Philology (Foreign Philology, Kazakh Philology, and Russian Philology), Linguistics, Management, Biotechnology, Information systems (according to the sphere of application), Standardization, Certification and Metrology, Engineering technologies and equipment.

In NKSU there is Post-Graduate Course in 11 specialities (03.00.13 – Human and animal physiology, 13.00.01 – The Theory and History of Pedagogics, 02.00.06 – VMS Chemistry, 02.00.03 – Organic Chemistry, 10.02.01 – The Russian Language, 05.13.07 – Technological process and manufacturing automation, 07.00.06 - Archeology, 09.00.13 – Religion Ideology, 03.00.15 – Genetics, 25.00.07 – Ground water hydrology, 08.00 – Economics and Management, 13.00.01 – General Pedagogics, 13.00.02 – The Theory and methods of teaching).
Senatus academicus for defending candidate’s dissertations in chemical and philological specialities has opened.
One of the important directions of NKSU work is the development of retraining and advanced training system for teaching staff and differently-skilled specialists from our region. In NKSU the Qualification Development Institute opened. It has become a good opportunity for workers from different branches of industry, agriculture, lines of business, government service, education and culture to improve their skills. Taking into consideration the necessity for personnel retraining NKSU pays attention to expansion of special-purpose forms of teaching and updating of educational programmes. Possibilities of Qualification Development Institute are growing so far as Regional information and educational network of Distance education is being developed. This network allows to ingrate more groups of people from distant regions who want to continue education or advance in skill on-the-job.