Higher education includes universities, academies, specialized higher education institutes and institutes. There are 54 tertiary education institutions: 33 public for 21 private. The gross enrolment rate in higher education was 12.5% in 2011/2012.
Universities deliver bachelor (Bakalavr) degree in four years, which allows students to pursue master (Magistr) programs, lasting two years. They also offer a "specialist degree" (specialist) in five (or six for medical and architecture studies) years. The specialist and the master degrees open the door to PhD programs (aspirantura).
Academies offer the same degrees in fields of scientific activity. An institute is usually a specialized branch of a university or an academy. Specialized higher education institutes are narrow profiles institutions.
There were criticisms about the competency of university lecturers in Kyrgyzstan: if a Master degree is theoretically required to teach at university, most teachers actually hold a Bachelor or even no degree at all.