KIMEP University is the oldest and the largest North American-style University in Central Asia. It was founded in 1992 by the decree of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. KIMEP is an independent not-for-profit educational institution serving a multicultural and multinational student body. It is situated on a modern campus in the center of Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.

KIMEP's College of Social Sciences (CSS) is home to the Departments of Economics, International Relations and Regional Studies, Public Administration, Media and Communication, and KIMEP's China & Central Asia Studies Center (CCASC), offering programs at the bachelor, master and doctoral levels.