The role of universities in regional development

   This article examines the legal and organizational issues of the role of universities in the development of regions.   The purpose of the study is to determine the models of cooperation between universities in the development of regions.   Methodology. In the course of the study, logical and formal-legal methods of analysis of individual regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan were used. The legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan regulating the issues of strategic planning, ownership of universities as legal entities, missions of universities and achievement of the stated goals, the organizational and legal form of universities, corporate governance bodies, requirements for members of the board of directors of universities were studied. Along with this, this study is based on international publications in the fi eld of higher education management, the place of development strategy in achieving sustainable development goals.   Originality / value of research. We built our research on the analysis of the best universities in Kazakhstan according to the results of the IQAA-2020 ratings, since it was these universities that showed good practice of interaction with the regions. Along with this, the strengths and weaknesses of such interaction were identified to determine the further development path.   Findings. The research has shown that many Kazakhstani universities do not quite clearly understand the role of universities in the development of regions and the performance of a social function. The lack of a clear understanding of the function assigned to the university by the society leads to the fact that universities do not see key priorities in such cooperation. The study made it possible to draw some conclusions and develop recommendations that are important for continuing eff orts in this direction. Universities should view this interaction as an important, strategic direction for their work and build on established practices.