The system of higher education is the foundation on which training of professional staff and the potential for development of a country are realized. The further development of the economy depends on the effectiveness of its educational system. In this paper the results of the development of higher education in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan after 20 years of independent development are given. An outlining of basic legal standards in the field of education in Central Asia is shown, general and specific features in the development of higher education arc identified, and on the basis of that the attempt to consider the perspectives for the development of higher education will be made. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.