97 percent of colleges in Japan OK’d for new student aid

September 20, 2019

Tokyo--The education ministry said Friday that 97 pct of national, public and private universities and junior colleges in Japan will be covered by new financial aid for low-income households from next April.

Of the 1,074 institutes examined, 1,043 were ruled eligible. The share stands at 62.2 pct for national, public and private vocational schools, according to the results of screenings by the ministry.

In May, Japan enacted a law to launch the aid program, under which entrance and tuition fees will be exempted or reduced and scholarships expanded for students from low-income families.

The program, however, will exclude schools that have all of the three designated types of managerial problems, including failure to fill 80 pct of enrollment capacity for three years in a row.

According to the ministry, all of the 186 national and public universities and junior colleges that applied were approved for the program.

Of 888 private universities and junior colleges, 857 applied and were approved. Of 2,713 national, public and private vocational schools, 1,696 made applications, and 1,688 were approved.

Under the law, households with annual incomes of less than 2.7 million yen, which are exempted from residential tax, will receive the maximum support from the program.

Households with incomes of 2.7 million yen to less than 3.8 million yen will be granted smaller amounts of assistance in accordance with income levels.

The ministry is expected to disclose a list of schools to be covered by the program within this month. Jiji Press