This research is relevant, as higher professional education has a large-scale impact on civilisation, the level of social, socio-economic, technological development and has a powerful potential for self-organisation and self-adjustment. The purpose of this article is to analyse the dynamics and state of political and legal factors that influenced the formation of the expansion trend of higher education in Kazakhstan in 1990-2018. The research methodology is based on the use of comparative legal, historical, statistical, formal-logical, and other methods. The authors believe that the periodisation of the processes of formation and development of the new policy of Kazakhstan in the field of higher education is important for a deeper understanding and comprehension of the phenomenon of expansion of higher education precisely. Therefore, the 1-5 stages of the formation and development of a new policy of Kazakhstan in the field of higher education were characterised. It was concluded that the main problem of our era may be an acute shortage of good specialists with the right skills.