The Public Finance Consortium is a university partnership between The University of New Mexico School of Public Administration (UNM) and The Kazakhstan State Academy of Management (KazSAM) in association with U.S. and Kazakhstan universities and partner institutions in the public and private sector. The consortium was established with a three-year grant (1998 - 2001) from the United States Information Agency, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

The consortium unites institutions of higher education, scholars, practitioners, NGOs, international public service organizations, and private parties in a long-term effort to develop more equitable, more effective, and more efficient systems of public finance. The primary goal of the Public Finance Consortium is to increase knowledge and understanding within the Kazakhstan academic community of sound public revenue mechanisms for democratic self-governance. To achieve this goal, the Public Finance Consortium contributes to the development of intellectual capacity and know-how that supports appropriate policy innovation in the closely related spheres of government, public economics, public policy, and public administration in Kazakhstan.