For approximately seventy years, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan were part of a single educational system under the Soviet Union. Within only a few years of independence, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan decreased their compulsory education level to grade 9, but Kazakhstan continued to require attendance to grade 11. Data from UNICEF's Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, conducted in 2005-6 in each of the republics, provides the opportunity to test empirically whether observed differences among republics are significant and whether attainment in Kazakhstan is higher than in the other republics. Analyses confirm that residents of Kazakhstan are more likely to attend grade 11 and a higher education than residents of neighboring republics