It's About Time Universities Increased Tuition for Foreign Students

Raising tuition fees is a step that must be taken if our public universities are to continue accepting foreign students. Tohoku University and Tsukuba University, both national universities, have announced that they will be raising fees for international students effective during the 2027 academic year.

The current annual tuition for both universities is ¥535,800 JPY ($3,450 USD), the same as for Japanese students. However, Tohoku University will raise tuition for foreign students to ¥900,000 ($5,760). Meanwhile, Tsukuba University will raise foreign student tuition to ¥608,800 ($3,900). Tuition fees for Japanese students and international students enrolled before the 2026 academic year will remain unchanged.

International students incur considerable costs in terms of support for daily living, consultation options, and other services. Clearly, there is a limit to how much of this burden Japanese students should be expected to bear. Therefore, it is perfectly appropriate that tuition for foreign students should be increased.

Some people allege that doing so would be "discriminatory." However, such criticism is completely off the mark. Rather, international students would be worse off if support were not provided properly due to a lack of funds. We would expect the universities to use income from the increased fees to expand support and improve the quality of education. Other universities should also actively consider adopting this approach.

How Tuition is Handled Elsewhere

It is common for overseas universities to charge international students higher tuition. The University of Oxford in the United Kingdom charges foreign students four to six times as much as domestic students. Meanwhile, the University of California, Los Angeles, known as UCLA, charges them three times as much as in-state students.

In Japan, tuition has generally been fixed and the same for all students. But in March 2024, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology revised the ministerial ordinance that sets tuition for national universities. Those changes allow the schools to set tuition fees for international students as they deem appropriate.

The recent decisions by Tohoku University and Tsukuba University to raise tuition fees is highly significant. Private institutions such as Waseda University have also announced that they are considering raising tuition fees. However, the timing has not yet been decided.

Is It Enough to Accomplish the Purposes?

The important thing is to clarify what the price increase means. That means, outlining how the additional revenue will be used and the expected effects for students.

*Tohoku University Kawauchi Campus (Courtesy of Tohoku University)*

Tohoku University plans to use the additional funds to improve the living environment for international students. It also says it will establish a new scholarship system. Meanwhile, Tsukuba University plans to use the entire amount to expand its support system for students.

Still, the announced price increases of 1.7 times at Tohoku University and 1.1 times at Tsukuba University are considerably smaller than those at overseas universities. Japanese institutions will need to verify whether the increases prove sufficient to achieve the intended purposes.

Finding Balance Among International Students

It is also important to ensure that the number of international students admitted is balanced among different countries of origin. The proportion of Chinese students studying at Japanese universities and graduate schools is extremely high. Currently, they account for 58% of all international students at Tohoku University and 51% at Tsukuba University.

This situation is far from the "international educational environment" the two universities are aiming for. We hope that the funds from the fee increase will also be used to attract talented international students from a wide variety of countries and regions.

(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun