How much does it cost to study abroad in Japan?
Japan is a popular destination for students abroad. And this leaves questions about how much it will cost to study there. In this article, we would give you all you need to know to prepare financially for your study in Japan.
What schools you can enroll abroad in Japan
You should enroll in one of the best and most affordable schools if you want to school abroad in Japan. Of course, there are numerous options to choose from but you want to choose the one that will give you the best education at an affordable cost. Here are schools in Japan that you can enroll in;
- Osaka University: this is one of Japan’s top national universities that you can enroll in as an international student. It is located in Osaka, Japan, and has over 15,000 undergraduate students and 8,000 graduate students with 12% of the number being international students. It has some notable alumni such as one of the co-founders of Sony, Akio Morita. It is known for its standard of excellence which explains why most of its students are enrolled in
If you are looking to enroll in Osaka university, you will be required to pay a tuition fee of $4,712 per year as an international student. You can pay the tuition in two equal installments. The first installment which is $2,356 is to be paid in May while the other half will be due in November.
You are required to have taken and passed TOEFL or TOEIC to be able to get admission into the school. You will be required to take an entrance exam if you reside outside Japan which can be taken without visiting Japan. The application and selection procedure is based on the promise that applicants commit to enroll in Osaka University if accepted. Successful applicants with outstanding academic performance will be eligible for a scholarship from Osaka University.
Since Osaka University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan. To apply for a student visa, you should;
- Apply for a Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status. (Osaka University will inform incoming exchange program students of the necessary steps in making this application.)
- Osaka University will make an application to the Immigration Bureau for a Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status.
- The Immigration Bureau will issue a Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status. (This certificate will be sent to Osaka University.)
- Osaka University will send you the Certificate of Eligibility for Resident Status.
- After receiving the certificate, you should apply for a student visa at the nearest Japanese Embassy or Consulate.
- Tokyo University: this is another of Japan’s top national universities where you can enroll as an international student. It is a public research university located in Bunkyo city, Tokyo in Japan, and has over 27,000 students with 13% of the number being international students. It is known as one of the most selective universities in Japan with notable figures as faculty members and researchers.
If you are looking to enroll in Tokyo university, you will be required to pay an admission fee of $2,200 for both graduate and undergraduate studies which are by wire transfer. The tuition fee is $4,181 per year. Tuition payments are made in installments twice a year: in May for the first half (April-September) and in November for the second half (October-March).
If you are enrolling in an undergraduate program that is offered in Japanese, There are two processes for admission to the traditional undergraduate program of the University of Tokyo.
One is for students who graduated from high schools in Japan (General Screening Test) and the other is for students who graduated from high schools abroad (Special Screening Tests) which is the one that you need as an international student.
As the majority of the courses in the traditional undergraduate programs are taught in Japanese, a high level of proficiency in Japanese is required upon enrollment.
If you are enrolling in three programs, No prior knowledge of Japanese is required, but compulsory Japanese language courses are included in the curriculum.
Since Tokyo University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan. To apply for a student visa, you should;
As an international student, you are required to reside in Japan according to the Status of Residence determined upon landing in Japan. The type of Status of Residence is designated by law according to the nature of the activity that you intend to engage in while in Japan.
It becomes invalid as soon as you no longer work on the designated activity (learning).
- Waseda University: this is another university you want to check out as an international student in Japan. Although this is a private university in Japan, it has produced notable figures in the world. It has over 50,000 students with 10% of the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in Waseda university, you will be required to pay an application fee of $132 and an admission fee of $2199. The tuition fee is $4,177 per year and there are no installment plans available so you have to pay your tuition at once upon admission.
You must be enrolled at Waseda’s partner university at the time of application, and continuously enrolled until the end of the exchange study period at the university. You must also meet a GPA requirement of a 4.0 scale. Applicants must meet the language requirement each school has set as the university does not accept the new scoring system.
Since Waseda University is in Tokyo in Japan, you must apply for and receive your student visa to be able to study and live in Japan. International students or non-Japanese nationals who are admitted to Waseda University can apply for a status of residence in Japan.
For applicants, without the status of residence in Japan, you need to acquire the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to acquire a status of residence in Japan. To order a visa on your passport, you have to submit the required documents, such as COE, to the Japanese Embassy/Consulate.
Then, on your entry to Japan, you will have to present the issued visa and submit COE to an Immigration Inspector for permission to acquire the status of residence as a Student.
- Hokkaido University: this is another of Japan’s top national universities where you can enroll as an international student. It is one of the most prestigious and oldest universities in Japan. it is located in Sapporo, Hokkaido in Japan, and has over 17,000 students with 12% of the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll at Hokkaido university, you will be required to pay an admission fee of $2,162 upon acceptance into Hokkaido university. The tuition fee is $4,110 per year. Tuition payments can be made in installments twice a year: in May for the first half and in November for the second half.
If you are enrolling in an undergraduate program that is offered in Japanese, you need to have completed 12 years of school education in a foreign country. The 12 years should include coursework completed according to Japan’s School Education Act.
If you want to apply to the School of Medicine at the Hokkaido University, you must take the TOEFL PBT, TOEFL iBT, or TOEIC Listening and Reading test. And must have earned a score of 550 or higher on the TOEFL PBT, 79 or higher on the TOEFL iBT, or 750 or higher on the TOEIC L&R.
Since Hokkaido University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan. To apply for a student visa, To apply for and obtain a visa, a document known as a “Certificate of Eligibility” issued by a regional Immigration Bureau is required.
This significantly reduces the time needed for you to process and complete your immigration procedures. The university can help you speed up the process through the Academic Affairs section at the faculty/graduate school to which you are applying to
- Kyoto University: this is a public research institution that is the second oldest university in Japan. It is one of Japan’s top national universities where you can enroll as an international student. It is located in Kyoto, Japan, and has over 22,000 students with 20% of the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in Kyoto university, you will be required to pay a tuition fee of $4,900 per year as an international student. You can pay the tuition in two equal installments. The first installment which is $2,450 is to be paid in May while the other half will be due in November.
You are required to have completed 12 years of schooling or equivalent as specified by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), or obtained a high school or equivalent diploma recognized by MEXT, such as an International Baccalaureate.
You will need to take the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU), administered by the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) if you are a privately financed applicant for the faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Engineering.
Since Kyoto University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan unless you are exempted from it. You must apply for your visa in person via a Japanese embassy or consulate in your country. To make the whole process easier, you can obtain a certificate of Eligibility issued by the regional Immigration Bureau in Japan.
- Nagoya University: this is a national research institution and it is located in Chikusa-ku, Nagoya. It is also one of Japan’s top national universities that you can enroll in as an international student as it has over 15,000 students with over 10% of the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in Nagoya university, you will be required to pay a tuition fee of $2,744 per year as an international student. You can pay the tuition in two equal installments. The first installment which is $1,372 is to be paid in April while the other half will be due in October.
The application process to Nagoya University takes place online through the school’s Online Admissions System. They employ a comprehensive selection approach and the admission consists of two parts which are the paper screening and interview/oral examination.
There is no paper examination during the screening process so your academic background will be evaluated based on your school records, essays, and recommendation letters. They also take into consideration non-academic activities, such as extra-curricular activities or volunteer work.
For the online application, you only need to upload soft copies of supporting documents while you will be required to submit the original copies if you pass the primary screening stage.
You will need to submit your English Proficiency Test Scores which could be either TOEFL, IELTS, or DET. You also need to complete two essays on the application portal and submit two reference letters. A government-issued ID card or Passport Copy is required.
Since Nagoya University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan unless you are exempted from it.
You must apply for your visa in person via a Japanese embassy or consulate in your country. To make the whole process easier, you can obtain a certificate of Eligibility issued by the regional Immigration Bureau in Japan.
- Keio University: this is a private research institution and it is located in Minato, Tokyo. It is also one of Japan’s top national universities that you can enroll in as an international student as it has over 33,000 students with over 9,000 international students from over 70 countries.
If you are looking to enroll in Keio University, you will be required to pay a tuition fee of $8,692 per year as an international student.
You can pay the tuition in two equal installments. You can pay the first installment during the Spring Semester and the second and final installment at the end of April.
Since Keio University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan unless you are exempted from it.
You must apply for your visa in person via a Japanese embassy or consulate in your country. To make the whole process easier, you can obtain a certificate of Eligibility issued by the regional Immigration Bureau in Japan.
- Kyushu University: this is a national university located in Fukuoka, Japan. It is one of Japan’s top national universities where you can enroll as an international student. It has over 25,000 students with over 2,000 from the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in Kyoto university, you will be required to pay a tuition fee of $4,089 per year as an international student. You can choose to pay your tuition fees in full or in two separate installments.
Since Kyushu University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan unless you are exempted from it. You must apply for your visa in person via a Japanese embassy or consulate in your country.
To make the whole process easier, you can obtain a certificate of Eligibility issued by the regional Immigration Bureau in Japan.
- Tohoku University: is a national university located in Sendai, Miyagi in the Tōhoku Region, Japan. It has over 18,000 students with 6% of the number being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in Tohoku university, you will be required to pay an admission fee of $2,152 for both graduate and undergraduate programs. The tuition fee is $4,090 per year. Tuition payments can be paid in two installments during each semester.
Tohoku University requires that you maintain a minimum IB of 33 to stand a good chance to get admission into the school. Students must also participate in other activities like sports, lead some projects, and community services to improve their chances of admission.
Since Tohoku University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan. As an international student, you are required to reside in Japan according to the Status of Residence determined upon landing in Japan.
The type of Status of Residence is designated by law according to the nature of the activity that you intend to engage in while in Japan. It becomes invalid as soon as you no longer work on the designated activity (learning).
- University of Tsukuba: It is a public research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan, and has over 16,000 students with over 2,000 being international students.
If you are looking to enroll in the University of Tsukuba, you will be required to pay an admission fee of $2,153 for both graduate and undergraduate studies. The tuition fee is $4,091 per year. Payments are automatically debited so you can pay the first half upon admission and the other half will be debited by November.
Since Tsukuba University is in Japan, you must apply and receive your student visa to be able to enter Japan. As an international student, you are required to reside in Japan according to the Status of Residence determined upon landing in Japan.
The type of Status of Residence is designated by law according to the nature of the activity that you intend to engage in while in Japan. It becomes invalid as soon as you no longer work on the designated activity (learning).