This study analyzes the gender gap in private returns to higher education in Kazakhstan. Using the 2010 Kazakhstan Migration and Remittances Survey data I find that the gender wage gap is large, although returns to higher education for women are higher than for men. The Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition shows that in Kazakhstan the gender difference in income is mostly explained by different rates of returns to characteristics, not by the differences in characteristics. Different patterns in returns to educational attainment were found across the wage distribution for men and women. Propensity score estimation results confirm that returns to higher education are higher for women in Kazakhstan.