🎓 Tuition Support: Eligible School List

❓ What changed?

Japan's higher education tuition support program (修学支援新制度), based on the Act on Support for University Students' Studies, combines tuition/entrance-fee reductions with grant-type scholarships. Meeting the student-side requirements is not enough: the school you enroll in must also have been confirmed as meeting the institutional requirements (機関要件) — a "confirmed institution" (確認大学等). On September 2, 2026, MEXT published its latest set of confirmed institutions. The list covers universities, junior colleges, colleges of technology (高専) and vocational schools (専門学校). Confirmation is not done by MEXT alone — the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and local governments also act as confirming bodies, so MEXT consolidates all of their published information into a single "list of eligible institutions" and publishes the total number of eligible institutions on the same page. The list is not fixed: schools whose confirmation has been revoked are also published, and schools currently applying for establishment approval are reviewed for eligibility after approval and may be added later. Since FY2024, support was expanded to middle-income households, and a separate list of science, engineering and agriculture faculties/departments at private schools is published for that expansion.

👥 Who is affected?

• ●Foreign students and parents considering universities, junior colleges, KOSEN or vocational schools in Japan
• ●Students planning to move from a Japanese language school to a vocational school or university
• ●Those already enrolled who are considering applying for tuition reductions or grant scholarships
• ●Foreign resident households choosing a school for their children
• ●Anyone considering a newly established school or one still awaiting establishment approval

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

For foreign students and households paying for education in Japan, this program can decide whether school is affordable. The key point is that eligibility has two layers: the student's own requirements and the school's requirements. Even if you meet the income-related conditions, you receive neither a tuition reduction nor a grant scholarship if your school is not a confirmed institution. Do not rely on wording in a school's brochure or recruitment ads — check the school's name directly in the list MEXT publishes. The list covers vocational schools as well as universities, and schools whose confirmation was revoked are published too. Requirements on the student's nationality and residence status are set separately by the program, so confirm whether you qualify through the official Q&A or your school's student support desk.