Growing numbers of international students continue to embark on their journey to pursue higher education in Japan.
Renown for its high quality of education, Japanese universities currently offer over 942 programmes taught fully in English (115 undergraduate and 827 postgraduate level).
The opportunity to earn a degree without being a native Japanese speaker has turned Japan to be a popular study destination attracted by its exotic culture, safety and surprisingly, affordable living expense as a student.
The number of students from Sub-Saharan Africa have exceeded 1,600 in May 2019 (*1). Most of whom are studying at graduate level in fields of Engineering, Social Science, Agriculture and Humanities. In 2011, South Africans studying in Japan was merely 15 people which has since increased to 91 in 2017. The figure speaks for its self.
Programme in Japan are not only in above mentioned fields. Undergraduate degree can be obtained from 115 programme and the field varies from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematic) to Social Science, Health Science, Language Studies, Education, Liberal Arts and International Relations.
To assist on identifying the variety of options, Study in Japan Global Network Project Regional Office in Sub-Saharan Africa entrusted by MEXT (*2) has hosted a virtual study in Japan fair in September 2020. A week-long event, participated by over 600 people, featured introductory information on what universities there are to apply.
Great number of questions were on the finance, the crucial factor to consider when studying abroad. Living expense is 780USD/month (*3). Rent is covering 1/3 of the expense which can be minimized by living in dorms provided by the university. Tuition fee at a national university is 7,174USD/annum (*3) which is 1/3 the cost of US or UK.
On top of this reasonable price, in Japan, little is known that each university offer great deal of tuition waiver, some are waiving up to 100%. These are offered per university and application must be submitted to them as there is no collective application nationally. Prospective students are advised to keep your radar out to not miss the application period for the admission of either Spring (April) or Fall (Sep/Oct).
In order to know which programme and what universities there are, Regional Office in Sub-Saharan Africa have launched a Data Portal which allows users to search their ideal programme.
Anyone can access the data portal to search according to major and degree one wish to study. Major is categorized in 11 fields which will help to identify the specific programme.
If one wishes to study as an exchange student while earning the credit from their home institution, this can be done at the Japanese universities with student exchange agreement. It can also be found at the data portal. Simply search by “affiliating university” and it will show which university in Japan has the agreement in place.
This data portal will enable one to search the options in Japan more convenient from the comfort of your home.
For any inquiry contact Study in Japan Global Network Project Regional Office in Sub-Saharan Africa from here.
1* Japan Students Service Organization (JASSO)
2* Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
3* Price on average as of 2019 (JASSO)