How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship - Getting Started

CHAPTER ONE:
Understanding the MEXT Scholarship

 

 

WHAT IS THE MEXT SCHOLARSHIP FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS

The MEXT scholarship is a scholarship program offered by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for international students who want to come to Japan to study. The scholarship is available at various levels, from a one-year undergraduate study abroad program all the way up through graduate degrees. This book and series focuses on the application for the graduate-level scholarship.

Benefits of the Scholarship

As of the time of publication, the MEXT scholarship offers:

• Complete tuition exemption for the duration of your studies;
• A stipend of 143,000 - 145,000 yen/month, depending on your degree level, plus a cost of living adjustment in some areas of 2,000 - 3,000 yen/month;
• One free round-trip international flight ticket between your home country and Japan, to bring you here for the start of your studies and get you home after you are finished; and
• Payment of all entrance exam and matriculation fees.

You can even extend your scholarship award period. If you start as a Master’s level research student, then matriculate to a Master’s program and finally continue on to a PhD, it is possible to extend the scholarship each time you move up to cover your entire duration of study. All told, that could be over 10 million yen in scholarship stipend payments, and that’s not even counting the value of the tuition and flight tickets.

That’s a pretty generous offer by any standard. The stipend is enough to live on. I have even seen students with families cover the cost of living for their spouse and children under their stipend, in more rural areas.

Purpose of the Scholarship

Of course, the Japanese government is not just being altruistic here. This is not a handout or even a need-based scholarship. It is an investment on their part. They have specific goals established for you as a graduate of the program.

Specifically, the program is designed to:

• Educate future leaders in politics and education from other countries, to instill in them an understanding of and sympathy toward Japan, that they will retain as they advance through their careers;
• Educate students who will return home and become ambassadors for their Japanese universities, contributing to recruiting more students, including self-financed students, to study in Japan in the future;
• Deliver an economic boost to Japan, both through the direct benefits to the economy of having international students in the country and also through training future leaders in business who will retain connections with Japan throughout their career;
• Develop ambassadors for Japanese culture who will spread interest in the country once they return home; etc.

According to follow-up reports, the goals of training leaders in politics and education has had the strongest results in Asia and especially ASEAN, where a Japanese education offers an advantage over many domestic programs and graduate degrees are relatively rare. MEXT graduates in the past have quickly risen to senior government posts and leadership within local universities.

In developed countries, particularly in North America, Western Europe, and Oceania, the goal of developing Japanese cultural ambassadors has yielded stronger results, because of the relative strength of local educational institutions.

Keep these outcomes in mind as you go through your scholarship application. You will want to take every opportunity to indicate to the scholarship reviewers that you have the clear potential to deliver the value they seek on their investment.

Scholarship Availability

The MEXT Scholarship for Research Students is the largest category of scholarships offered by MEXT, but that does not necessarily mean that the opportunities are plentiful.

As of 2015, the last year for which MEXT has published its scholarship data, the scholarship for Research Students was available to applicants from 168 countries and there were a total of 4,042 scholarship slots available per year. The number of scholarships has not gone up. It may seem like a large number at face value, but when you break it down by how the slots are allotted, it starts to look small very quickly.

As of May 1, 2017, there were a total of 188,384 International students enrolled in higher education in Japan. 46,373 were in graduate school and 9,166 were MEXT Scholarship recipients, at all levels. Compared to the previous year, that is an increase of 17,000 students, including 3,000 graduate students, but a decrease of 300 MEXT Scholarship winners. The competition is only getting fiercer.

Although there are around 4,000 slots available, you are competing for one of a much smaller number.

The scholarship is divided into two primary application processes: the Embassy Recommendation and University Recommendation applications, which we will cover in more detail later on. Slots are further divided among individual countries or embassies for the Embassy Recommendation application and among universities in Japan for the University Recommendation. You might find yourself competing for only 2 slots allotted to the consulate that serves your region (as in the US for the Embassy Recommendation) or a half dozen slots allotted to the university where you want to study (for the University Recommendation).

What I am trying to say here is that you should expect fierce competition and be prepared to take every step in your power to give yourself and advantage over other applicants. That is exactly what we will be doing for the remainder of this book and series.

Other Types of MEXT Scholarships

I mentioned earlier that there are other types of MEXT scholarships that are not covered by this book. While these scholarships are not relevant to you, I am going to list them out here because you may come across the terms in other searching (and in the application form itself), so it is important to know what you can ignore.

• Undergraduate Students:
  For high school students between 17-24 years of age as of April 1 in the year they start their scholarships, who want to complete their Bachelor’s degree in Japan. This scholarship also includes a year of Japanese language studies before the degree starts, and students will then be placed in a Japanese-taught degree program at MEXT’s discretion. As of 2015 (the last year for which data is available), there were 460 slots open to applicants from a total of 100 countries. The only application method is Embassy Recommendation.
   
• Colleges of Technology:
  In Japan, Colleges of Technology are a separate category of higher education institution from universities. They award a three-year technical degree that is not equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree. High school students from 40 developing countries are eligible to compete for what was 86 total slots in 2015. Like the undergraduate program, this scholarship includes a year of Japanese language preparation before students take their programs entirely in Japanese. The only application method is via the Japanese Embassy.
   
• Japanese Studies Scholarship:
  This is a one-year scholarship program for undergraduate exchange students who will be spending a year in Japan as part of a degree program taught at a university in another country. As the name suggests, it only applies to students majoring in Japanese studies (Japanese language and culture). Students from 74 countries were eligible for a total of 190 slots, as of 2015. It is only available at a predetermined list of universities in Japan. It is possible to apply via the Japanese Embassy or via one of the designated universities in Japan.
   
• Teacher’s Training:
  This is the only other graduate-level MEXT scholarship program. The scholarship duration is for up to one-and-a-half years of special training in a teacher’s training program and may include six months of Japanese language training, if necessary. There were only 89 slots available to applicants from 64 countries, as of 2015.

Compared to these scholarship opportunities, the MEXT Scholarship for Research Students has significantly more spaces available - 4,042 as of 2015, is open to applicants from more countries, and is frankly much more valuable. Graduate education, when you are most specialized in your discipline, gives you the best opportunity to make the most of the resources available to you in Japan.

CATEGORIES OF THE MEXT SCHOLARSHIP FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS

Although this is called the MEXT Scholarship for “Research Students”, remember from the definitions in the Introduction, you can apply for a degree program through this scholarship.

Now, let’s break down what it means to be a research student, Master’s degree student, or Doctoral students under the MEXT scholarship.

Research Student

Everyone who earns the scholarship is a kenkyūsei “research student” in the sense that they are a graduate-level student. However, you can also be enrolled as a hiseikisei “research student” at a university.

In this sense, research student means “non-degree” student. In most cases, this is a student who is affiliated with a particular Master’s or Doctoral program, but has not yet passed the entrance exam to start their degree. Many MEXT scholars start as research students for a semester, or up to two full years, depending in some cases on their academic ability and in...