In the era of global changes, the problem of building up the intellectual potential of society is becoming urgent. Higher education plays a key role, the main competitive advantage of which is the quality of education. For the past 10 years, in Kazakhstan higher education, educational reforms have been underway in the context of integration into a single educational space within the framework of the Bologna Process. The main final results of the reforms carried out include the transition to a three-level structure of training (bachelor's, master's, PhD), the approval of the Classifier of Integrated Training Areas, the development of the National Qualification System, which provides for the integration of educational and professional standards, the introduction of a new generation of state educational standards that allow universities to develop their own educational programs of higher and postgraduate education, an increase in the number of educational grants for bachelor's, master's and PhD programs, the rejection of state certification and the transition to independent accreditation of universities and educational programs, creating favourable conditions for ensuring the availability of higher education.
Despite these positive changes, there are still enough problematic issues that hinder the progressive development of higher education. Taking into account all the variety of problems, the main place is occupied by the problem of assuring the quality of higher education that should meet modern requirements.
Despite the considerable experience in researching the content of the quality category, there are still no generally accepted definitions: quality as a certain level of knowledge, skills and abilities; quality as a set of personal qualities that determine the ability to perform functional tasks; quality as a social category that determines the state and effectiveness of education; quality as a ratio of goal and result, as a measure of goal achievement; quality as a multidimensional concept that cannot be specified.