Do you meet the eligibility criteria for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship?
Are you eligible to apply for the Japanese Government Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship?
As I write this, the application guidelines for the 2019 University Recommended MEXT Scholarship have just been released, and there have been some significant changes – particularly to the language ability section. Here is a complete explanation of the most recent requirements.
University Recommendation MEXT Scholarship Eligibility Requirements
The requirements below are for the University Recommendation MEXT Scholarship. As I detail in my book, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship, there are differences between the eligibility requirements for University and Embassy Recommendation. I have published another article about the eligibility requirements for the Embassy Recommendation MEXT Scholarship as of the 2020 Application Cycle that you can find at the link above.
These are also the eligibility requirements for the MEXT Scholarship for Research (Graduate) Students. I do not cover the requirements for undergraduates below.
Disclaimer
The eligibility requirements I describe below are the requirements set out by MEXT. However, universities may have their own, higher eligibility requirements, as well. If you find that the university you are applying to specifies higher requirements than what I describe below, you have to meet both sets of requirements. Do not bother trying to argue with the university that MEXT’s standards are lower. That won’t work!
You may also find requirements below that are higher than what the universities require, or completely new. Even if there is some discrepancy, if you do not meet the MEXT requirements, the university cannot recommend you for the scholarship, period.
Minimum GPA
You must have a minimum 2.3 / 3.0 GPA on MEXT’s scale over the most recent two years of your degree-seeking studies. For more information on how to correctly calculate your GPA, refer to my previous article.
Nationality
You must have the nationality of a country that has formal relations with Japan (e.g. not Taiwan or North Korea) and must not have Japanese Nationality, including dual nationality. If you currently hold Japanese nationality as a dual national, you must give up your Japanese nationality prior to arriving in Japan.
Priority Countries
MEXT requires that no more than 25% of a university’s nominees come from a non-priority country. Since the maximum number of nominees per university is less than 8 in almost all cases (I will cover the number of scholarship slots in another article), this means that each university can recommend up to one applicant from a non-priority country. All other nominees would need to be from a country listed in the table below.
| Africa | ||
|---|---|---|
| Algeria | Angola | Benin |
| Botswana | Burkina Faso | Burundi |
| Cabo Verde | Cameroon | Central African Republic |
| Chad | Comoros | Cote D’Ivoire |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Djibouti | Egypt |
| Equatorial Guinea | Eritria | Ethiopia |
| Gabon | Gambia | Ghana |
| Guinea | Guinea-Bissau | Kenya |
| Lesotho | Liberia | Libya |
| Madagascar | Malawi | Mali |
| Mauritania | Mauritas | Morocco |
| Mozambique | Namibia | Niger |
| Nigeria | Republic of the Congo | Rwanda |
| Sao Tome and Principe | Senegal | Seychelles |
| Sierra Leone | Somalia | South Africa |
| South Sudan | Sudan | Swaziland/eSwatini |
| Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia |
| Uganda | Zambia | Zimbabwe |
| Americas | ||
| Argentina | Bolivia | Brazil |
| Chile | Colombia | Ecuador |
| Guyana | Paraguay | Peru |
| Suriname | Uruguay | USA |
| Venezuela | ||
| Asia | ||
| Bangladesh | Bhutan | Brunei |
| Cambodia | India | Indonesia |
| Laos | Malaysia | Maldives |
| Mongolia | Myanmar | Nepal |
| Pakistan | Philippines | Singapore |
| Sri Lanka | Thailand | Vietnam |
| CIS and Russia | ||
| Armenia | Azerbaijan | Belarus |
| Kazakhstan | Kyrgyzstan | Moldova |
| Russia | Tajikistan | Turkmenistan |
| Uzbekistan | ||
| Europe | ||
| Albania | Austria | Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| Bulgaria | Croatia | Cyprus |
| Czech Republic | Greece | Hungary |
| Kosovo | Liechtenstein | Macedonia |
| Montenegro | Poland | Romania |
| Serbia | Slovakia | Slovenia |
| Switzerland | Ukraine | |
| Middle East | ||
| Afghanistan | Bahrain | Iran |
| Iraq | Israel | Jordan |
| Kuwait | Lebanon | Oman |
| Palestine | Qatar | Saudi Arabia |
| Syria | Turkey | UAE |
| Yemen | ||
Age
As of the application for the 2019 scholarship, applicants would need to have been born on or after April 2, 1984.
Exceptions
There are only two exceptions to the date of birth above
- Inability to apply during the ages when you would have been eligible due to the situation in your country, such as compulsory military service or the total suspension of higher education due to war, as approved by MEXT. (Exceptions will never be granted for personal reasons such as family reasons, financial difficulties, health, etc.)
- Applicants who are graduates of the Young Leaders Program and applying for a Doctoral-level program that will start within 5 years of the end of the YLP.
Academic Background
For the University Recommendation MEXT Scholarship, MEXT requires only that you meet the admissions requirements established by the university recommending you.
Field of Study
You must be applying within the same field that you studied previously at university or a related field. Your field of study must be available at the university you are applying to.
I have discussed the meaning of a “related field of study” in detail in past articles as well as in my book, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship, but here is a brief summary:
A “related field” is a field of research that falls within the same discipline as something you majored in previously. If your past and future fields could conceivably be majors in the same faculty, or if one is a subset of another, they are related. For example, international relations and political science are clearly related. The same could be said for media studies and communication, or mechanical engineering and robotics. If you come from a multidisciplinary field, such as area studies, then any of the related fields are fair game.
If your fields are not so obviously related, then you have to sell the connection in your Field of Study and Research Program plan by clearly showing how research in your past field provided you with a natural transition to the future one.
Language Ability
This is the big change this year!
For both Japanese and English, the requirement is now that you have to meet the language ability requirement at the time of formal enrollment into the degree program, not at the time of application as in the past. However, if you fail to meet the language ability requirement when you progress to the degree program, you would forfeit the scholarship. So, my guess is that regardless of MEXT’s relaxed timing, universities are still going to want to see that you have the requisite language ability at the time of application, in general. They do not want to lose one of their scholarship recommendees later!
Here are the standards you have to meet for MEXT. You only need to meet the language requirement for the language that your program will be taught in!
Japanese Language Ability Requirement
You must meet one of the following (in addition to meeting the admission requirements for your degree program, of course).
- JLPT N2 or higher at the time of starting the degree program
- Completed your qualifying degree* in Japanese
- Have equivalent or higher ability in Japanese language to a person meeting criteria 1 or 2 above, as determined by the nominating university.
*Your “qualifying degree” is the degree that you earned as a prerequisite to the degree you are applying for. If you are applying for a master’s degree, your qualifying degree would be your bachelor’s degree. If you are applying for a doctoral degree, then your qualifying degree would be your master’s degree.
English Language Ability Requirements
You must meet one of the following (in addition to meeting the admission requirements for your degree program, of course).
- Have a formal language proficiency test score in English equivalent or higher to B2 on the CEFR scale at the time of starting the degree program.
- Completed your qualifying degree* in English
- Have equivalent or higher ability in English language to a person meeting criteria 1 or 2 above, as determined by the nominating university.
*Your “qualifying degree” is the degree that you earned as a prerequisite to the degree you are applying for. If you are applying for a master’s degree, your qualifying degree would be your bachelor’s degree. If you are applying for a doctoral degree, then your qualifying degree would be your master’s degree.
CEFR B2 Equivalency Table
Here are the scores that MEXT has determined to be equivalent to the CEFR B2, based on the PDF linked above:
- Cambridge English (Preliminary, First, Advanced, Proficiency): 160 or higher
- Eiken (Jun-1 kyu, 1 kyu): Any passing score
- GTEC (Advanced, CBT): 1190 or higher
- IELTS: 5.5 or higher
- TEAP: 309 or higher
- TEAP CBT: 600 or higher
- TOEFL iBT: 72 or higher
- TOEIC L&R/TOEIC S&W: 1560
The requirements above are only MEXT’s minimum requirements. Universities are well within their rights to establish higher standards.
Health
Must be fit to study in Japan as determined by the nominating university. In general, this means that each university will have a medical form that they require you to have completed.
Even if you have a pre-existing medical condition, in general you would only be disqualified for medical reasons if your home country doctor was unwilling to sign off that you are fit to study abroad in Japan. If your doctor agrees that you can continue your care or medication regimen in Japan, then there should be no problem.
Ability to Arrive in Japan on Designated Date
You must be able to arrive in Japan during the period specified by the nominating university, no more than 2 weeks before or after the official start of the semester. Failure to arrive by the end of the designated period will be considered voluntary withdrawal from the scholarship. In the event that nominees arrive prior to the designated period, their travel fees will not be paid.
Essentially, you need to follow the arrival dates designated by your university. The “2 weeks” mentioned above is an instruction for the university’s reference as to when they are allowed to set your arrival date. Arriving late will mean that you lose the scholarship. Arriving early is possible, but you would forfeit the travel benefits.
Visa Requirement
In principle, you must apply for and obtain a “Student” visa at the Japanese diplomatic mission in the country where you hold nationality then arrive in Japan using that visa. Applicants who already hold other residence statuses in Japan, such as “Permanent Resident”, “Long-term Resident”, etc., must give up that status, apply for a “Student” visa, and return to Japan with that visa. After completion of your degree, it is not guaranteed that you would be able to reobtain a “Permanent Resident” or “Long-term Resident” status again, even if previously held.
Applicants who arrive in Japan without a student visa will have their scholarships suspended.
Disqualification Criteria
Anyone meeting any of the criteria below is ineligible to apply for the scholarship:
- Active duty military or military-employed civilian at the time of arriving in Japan or at any point during the scholarship award period.
- Unable to arrive in Japan by the deadline determined by MEXT or the nominating university.
- Previous recipient of the Japanese Government MEXT Scholarship (including those who withdrew from the scholarship in the past after arriving in Japan). However, applicants who have over 3 years of education or employment history between the month after the end of the previous scholarship award and the commencement of the new award are eligible to apply. Past recipients of the Japanese Studies MEXT Scholarship who returned to their home universities and graduated after receipt of that scholarship (including those expected to graduate before the start of the new scholarship), past recipients of the Japan-Korea Joint Government Scholarship Program for the Students in Science and Engineering Departments, and past recipients of the Young Leaders’ Program scholarship are eligible to apply. Past receipt of the MEXT Honors Scholarship does not disqualify applicants.
- Applicants who are simultaneously applying for any other Japanese Government (MEXT) scholarship to begin in fiscal year 2019.
- Applicants who are already enrolled at a Japanese university with a residence status of “Student” at the time of application or who will enroll in a Japanese university prior to the start of the scholarship award period. However, applicants who are currently enrolled in a Japanese university (or who will enroll in a Japanese university) as fee-paying students and who have definite plans to complete their studies, return to their home countries, and obtain a new student visa before returning to Japan are eligible.
Essentially, this requirement means that you cannot be enrolled in a Japanese university with the intent to quit if you receive the MEXT Scholarship. The exception applies to students who enrolled in Japanese university (or language programs) and will complete their course of studies/graduate before the start of the scholarship.
- Applicants who have not yet graduated from their qualifying degree at the time of application and who fail to graduate before the start of the scholarship award period.
If you have not graduated, you are still eligible to apply and would have to submit a “Certificate of Expected Graduation” instead of a Certificate of Graduation. However, if you do not graduate as expected, you would lose the scholarship.
- Applicants who have dual nationality, including Japan as one of the nationalities, at the time of application and who fail to renounce their Japanese citizenship prior to the start of the scholarship.
- Applicants who intend to conduct fieldwork or internships outside of Japan or take a leave of absence during their studies for a long period of time.
“Long period of time” is undefined, but I would interpret this as meaning any period of time that interferes with coursework during the semester. Fieldwork outside the country could be possible during vacation periods, for less than a month, but if you fail to sign in at your university each month, you would forfeit the monthly scholarship payment for the months that you do not sign.
- Applicants who have already obtained a doctoral degree and are applying as a research student.
Willingness to Participate in Intercultural Interaction
During your studies in Japan, you must be willing to actively participate in interaction events with schools and communities to contribute to the strengthening of relationships between your home country and Japan. After graduation, you must remain in contact with your university, participate in follow-up surveys and studies, and join in activities conducted by the Japanese diplomatic mission in your home country to promote relations with Japan after returning home.
Of course, this is unmeasurable, but stating your willingness/excitement to participate in such activities during the application process where possible would help you application.
Relationship between Universities
Universities are only able to nominate applicants who meet one of the following requirements:
- Applicants whose qualifying degree was earned at a university that has a student exchange or other partnership with the nominating Japanese university and who were formally recommended by their home university.
- Applicants whose qualifying degree was earned at a university that has a history of interaction with the nominating Japanese university outside of a formal partnership and who have been formally recommended by their home university.
- Applicants whose qualifying degree was earned at a university that has no partnership or history of interaction with the nominating Japanese university but who have been determined and formally recommended by the president of the nominating Japanese university to be someone who can contribute to the improvement of the university’s education and research.
Technically, this criteria does not eliminate any applicants, but it makes it much more likely that applicants from a partner university will be able to earn nomination. Many Japanese universities will only accept nominations from partner university students, and some will require that the students go through an application and nomination process at their home universities, first.
For this reason, I highly recommend that you apply to a university that has a partnership with your current university!
End of the Eligibility Criteria
You can find the original eligibility requirements for 2019 in Japanese on MEXT’s website, below
http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/koutou/ryugaku/1412214.htm
Special Thanks
Special thanks to the TranSenz supporters on Patreon, especially Daimyo Supporter Kenzo who pledges $10 per month to show his support! You can show your support for TranSenz on Patreon for as little as $1 (0.08% of a MEXT monthly stipend) per month. If TranSenz has helped you in your application process and you want to “pay it forward” to keep this site running to help future applicants, every contribution helps!
If you want to show your support but Patreon is out of reach, I’d appreciate it if you say hi on social media or in the comments below to let me know if you appreciate these posts. You can find me on facebook at @TranSenz or on Twitter at @tagsenzaki. I look forward to saying hi!
Questions?
Let me know in the comments below!
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Dear Travis,
Thanks for this very helpful blog and the books; “How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan” has been extremely useful to prepare for my application.
I already asked you a question a few months ago, essentially my situation os as follows:
1. I’m enrolled currently as 4th year undergraduate student at Todai (not MEXT student), planning to graduate in summer this year.
2. I want to apply for a Master’s program at Kyudai, and am in touch with the professors. IT seems that Kyudai is very late in opening their applications for the 2020 round, their office told me that they will only be starting their application-period after the official announcemenet of MEXT’s guidelines for this year.
Now since the MEXT guidleines state that students who are currently enrolled at a Japanese University are not eligible UNLESS it is clear (“奨学金支給期間開始前に帰国することが申請時において確実” from the guidelines of 2019) that I’m going back to my home country (Germany).
So I wonder whether you have ever processed a case like mine; what would you reckon would be an acceptable “proof” that I will be going back to Germany in-between my current program and the beginning of my Master program? Is a fixed reservation for a flight ticket good, or a statement on an extra sheet of paper declaring that I will definitely follow the rules of the scholarship? Or Will any extra documents be sorted out anyway from the application process so that I have to find another way to make this point convincing?
Hi Jan,
Thank you for your feedback and kind words!
I have seen several cases in the past that were very similar to yours. At my old university, we had undergraduate students who were there on a government scholarship from their own countries and applied to graduate school as MEXT Scholars. It was never a problem.
In your case, like theirs, there should be no problem whatsoever as long as you are in Japan with a student residence status. When you graduate from your undergraduate program this summer, you are required by law to leave Japan or change your residence status within 2 weeks of the end of your studies (regardless of the period of stay on your residence card). So, the fact that you are enrolled in a degree program that has a definite end date is sufficient proof all by itself. You should not need anything more.
(This condition is only tricky for people in Japan with working residence status or family-related residence statuses, since their status in Japan would not imply an end date).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you for the reply, I’m really relieved to read that!
May I ask one more question regarding the language of the Research Proposal? I want to apply for a program about Jap. history taught by foreign professors and mainly for international students, and I wonder whether it is ok in this case if I write my proposal in English, or do you think that I will have even slightly better chances to get the scholarship if I write the proposal in Japanese (which will take more time and effort)? I do have certificates that prove Japanese ability (JLPT and Kanji Kentei), but I wonder whether the reviewers might be more impressed by student’s proposal’s written in Japanese? I wonder whether the main reviewers will be professors from my program (so it would be more natural to write it in English in first place), or will it be mainly other Japanese professors from the University/ staff from the International student section? Given that Germany is not among the priority countries I will probably have to compete for 1, or at most 2 available scholarships for the whole University, so I want to make the application as good as somehow possible.
Thanks,
Jan
Hi Jan,
My recommendation is that you should write the Field of Study and Research Program Plan in the language that the degree program you are applying for will be taught in. So, if you are applying for a program taught in English, write it in English. (If you are applying to a program taught in Japanese, you would need at least N2 level Japanese and should write your FSRPP in Japanese as well).
There used to be a requirement that students applying in fields directly related to Japan, including Japanese history among others, had to apply only for degree programs taught in Japanese, but I do not see that requirement in the last year’s worth of application guidelines anymore, so you should be safe applying to an English language program. Obviously, though, to conduct primary source research in Japanese history you are going to need Japanese language ability, so having the test scores is going to help!
Your FSRPP is ultimately going to be read by the professor that you are applying to to become your supervisor primarily and by the other faculty members in the department. If that department teaches a degree program in English, you can be sure that they will have the ability to read in that language.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
That sounds good, then I’m going to write it in English!
Thanks so much for your help!
Jan
Hi Jan,
You’re very welcome. Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, thanks for the blog, i applied for MEXT scholarship 2020, i posted my application by EMS before the closing date of my application 24th November 2019, through EMS Tracking i was notified my application arrived but i have not yet received the receipt confirmation from the University…some of my colleagues we applied together have been notified by official email four days ago, that their application are received and have to wait for the results in February 2020…………kindly assist am getting worried
Hi Laurent Maganga Masanja,
Did you any your colleagues all apply to the same university? Not all universities will send notifications (we didn’t send them where I worked – we told applicants to rely on the EMS reports). Some universities will also not accept applications after the deadline, regardless of the postmark date (deadlines in Japan are must-arrive-by deadlines).
However, if you all applied together to the same university in the same envelope, then it would be odd that you had not received a notification. I would recommend that you check your spam email box or any other inbox security settings you might have. If there is nothing there, then it would not hurt to contact the university and explain the situation.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Dear Travis ,
Uni finally notified that i got MEXT Scholarship (University Recommendation).Thank you for your effort as your blog really reduce the tense.However,keep it up .
Again thank you.
Hi Mamun,
Thank you for letting my know and congratulations!
It’s been a long wait, but now it is going to be a quick scramble for you to get ready to move to Japan. I’ve very happy to hear that you were successful in the end.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello again!
Do you have any news whether or not the results of the MEXT grants for university-recommended students are out already?
The wait is killing me haha.
Thanks again for your amazing blog!
Hi Des,
No, I haven’t heard of any release dates yet. The official release date from MEXT was “in June”, which usually means “on June 30”. However, it would not surprise me if the results were a little later than that, based on recent years’ release dates.
Keep in mind, too, that MEXT releases the results to universities, and then they have to go through whatever processing they have before sending the final results to applicants, so that could cause a minor additional delay.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis ,
Can you tell me that MEXT declare the result together or separately?If MEXT release the result together ,then all university will get together and will release as soon as possible.However, nowadays i am seeing few universities such as osaka prefacture , shimane,Iwata prefacture university all ready released their final result but high ranked university such as Tokyo Uni.Tokyo Tech.Kyoto University ,Osaka Uni,Hirosima did not release their result but i expected that as high ranked university ,they will release first and then others .For instance ,can you tell what can be the possible reason ?it is that they did not get result?However,i am also tensed nowadays.Thank u.
Hi Mamun,
In general, MEXT releases all of the results for each scholarship type to the nominating universities at once. They may release the General Category, PGP, and Top Global University Scholarship results separately, though.
After that, it is up to universities as to how quickly they turn around and release that information to their nominees. They might have some internal processes to go through first.
Your comment is the first time I have heard of any results being released so far this year! I haven’t even seen anyone talking about it in the usual forums I check. Unfortunately, since I haven’t seen any of it directly, I can’t say for sure what the reason might be, but my best guess is that there are different kinds of scholarships being released at different times.
If you can point me in the direction of any of the ongoing conversations about the results, I would appreciate it very much!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much Travis and i obviously respect your effort as it alleviate the tense of applicants .
Thanks for your reply!
I emailed the Student Affairs office last week regarding the results. That was in response to their email that I need to apply for the lodge/dormitory. I asked if it is okay to apply when I haven’t received the MEXT results, to which they replied that the results may come out “end of June”. Well, it is July already so I am hoping it’ll be this week.
The wait is killing me. There’s no way I’ll be disqualified despite the Univ recomm, right? I only applied and committed one university and as far as I know, I’m no criminal or terrorist lolz.
Also, might I ask the FORUMS you’ve been checking?
Thanks a lot!
Hi Des Luna,
Thank you for taking the time to follow-up.
The forum I reference most is the “Japan Reference” Forum’s Study in Japan board. In previous years, that was the center of a very active conversation between applicants, but this year, it seems to be largely dead. Every time in the past, I have seen a rush of posts as people got their results, but nothing so far this year.
Disturbingly, I have heard from a few commenters on here that they were rejected for the scholarship because budget cuts resulted in their university getting only half of their nominees accepted. So far, I’ve only heard that from two people and I haven’t been able to track down more information to see if it applied to a specific kind of scholarship, etc., but I am still trying to learn more. (My suspicion is that it might relate to the Top Global University category scholarship, which has its own set of rules that are not made public, but I can’t be sure yet).
I hope you hear soon! I’m very curious about this year’s trend, as well.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello, Travis.
Last July 4, I finally got the good news: I got the MEXT.
A week after, I received the certficates they sent me.
Finally.
Whew.
Thanks to your blog, which has been very,ery helpful. I’ll reco my friends who aspire to study to read your blog and buy your book. 🙂
Now, on to the next challenge: surviving Japan uni life :))
Thanks again!
Hi Des Luna,
Thank you very much for sharing your good news! I am thrilled to hear that you earned the scholarship and that I was able to contribute in some small way. It’s stories like yours that give me the reason to keep working on this site!
Good Luck with your move to Japan and starting your student life here!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
I am now in the second year of my master’s degree pursuing in my country. I prepared since last year my PhD proposal, which I think, has a great potential to be a brilliant project, I hope. But my question, for now, is about my master project which, to my knowledge, must be sent as a requirement document in a full format. Unfortunately, the master subjects proposed in my home school didn’t take my attention and haven’t a good relation with my PhD proposal. So I decided to create my own subject for my master. My professors’ department confirms that it has a good contribution but it needs a lot of hard-working. After wide research for a supervisor for my proposition, I found a professor from another town who accept to supervise me. The problem that he does not have any real interest in my subject and his help will not be significant, the fact that he didn’t go into details of the project…
My questions so:
1. as a university recommendation, what exactly searching for in the master project the contribution, the performance of the LAB that I worked in, the methodology I used… or all of them
2. In your opinion, what is the best choice? Find another subject easier, or, if you have any idea, submit my proposal to a foreign laboratory which may have more interest, cause this project needs a lot of experimental tests, not necessarily in Japan, of course, and get a scholarship for the period of the project. I have no idea if I am eligible to get it or not.
Thank you sooo much for this blog where I found a lot of useful information and a kind person who has a broad-minded to answer every single question that is what encouraged me to write to you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Hi Montassar,
If you are applying for the MEXT Scholarship for the PhD, then all you are going to have to include in that application package is a half-page to one-page abstract of your thesis, and that is not really a significant portion of your application. At least, it is not nearly as significant as your Field of Study and Research Program Plan or grades during your Master’s degree. (Of course, you do have to finish that research project and graduate!)
1. Your contribution, especially the specific research that you completed and methods, as well as the outcomes are important.
2. I can’t really give you advice about completing your Master’s degree in your country. My expertise is on the application for the scholarship in Japan for an entire degree. Once you have figured out how you are going to complete your Master’s degree research and are ready to apply for a PhD in Japan, then I think I can help more.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Will I be given the form to fill at the Japanese Embassy in my country?
Hi Emmanuel Emmanuel Chizurumoke,
Yes, you will need to get all the forms from the embassy and submit your completed application package there when you are done.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Bro first of all thanks for the blog,,, I’m about to apply but I’m still really confused if I get all the required documents,,,, How will I get the form? I wanna apply for an undergraduate study
Hi Emmanuel Emmanuel Chizurumoke,
You should be able to get all of the forms plus the complete application instructions from the Japanese Embassy in your country.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you for the information!
I’m interested in getting MEXT for non-degree research student at Art University in Japan.
Now I’m wondering, what I need to do first?
Do I need to apply for MEXT and then look for the Universities?
Or I need to start connecting with Universities, and if they will be ok with me, then apply for MEXT?
Hi Yu,
I would recommend that you read one of my articles for applicants who are just getting started with the MEXT scholarship. Such as my article on the basics of the MEXT scholarship or the article introducing the scholarship and how to apply.
Either of those should help you understand your first steps to applying for the scholarship.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Today I received an email that I had been selected as one of the nominees for a MEXT(from fall 2019) by a Japanese university. I wish I would have found your site sooner. The recommendation process at my home university happened very fast and, I am still unsure what the next MEXT evaluation entails.
Hi Hedvika,
Congratulations! Even without finding the site sooner, it sounds like you have found success!
Now that you have been nominated to MEXT by the university, you have passed the step of competitive evaluation. MEXT, at this point, will be double-checking the university’s work to make sure that they did not miss any problems with your application, disqualification criteria, or that you haven’t been nominated by two separate universities.
In all my years of working with the MEXT scholarship, every student I know of that was nominated to MEXT for the scholarship ended up receiving it. It is just a matter of waiting for the bureaucratic processing at this point.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hello Travis! Andrés here,
I will try to apply for the first time this year for the Undergraduate MEXT Scholarship, I’m usually good at math but I’m really worried about where to study from for the math and the sciences tests. I’have searched a lot and I have only managed to find this guide “Math for undergrad MEXT scholarship”, do you have any information about this book? Could you help me find more resources?
Hi Andres,
Unfortunately, I have never heard of that book.
I know you can find old tests on the Study in Japan website below, so that might help you identify which parts you need more help with and look into study materials for that.
https://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/toj/toj0302e-32.html
I hope that helps.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
First of all kudos for the blog, this place is probably the most helpful spot on the whole web for anyone seeking the Monbusho scholarship.
I want to apply this year, but each day that passes it seems ever more complex due to a number of factors, for instance:
I was planning to apply through the embassy recommendation first and see how it goes, I’m seeking a masters dgree and the number of scholarships awarded in my country for that category is around 5 per year. Me, having a 4.2-4.3 out of 5 overall GPA (84%-86%), wasn’t so thrilled due to the low number of scholarships offered for every single field of study imaginable… No worries, I have good work experience, good research experience, I can probably get some good recommendation letters plus, I have a C2 (native) TOEFL level, sooo keep on trucking! right?
Well, just a few minutes ago I was checking out TUFS and Sophia U’s webpages and to my surprise they already opened the Top Global University Project-Monbusho scholarships admissions for this Fall!
In this article (and a few others you’ve wrote) you’ve stipulated that the MEXT’s GPA cutoff criteria is 2.3 out of 3.0 during the last two years of study, all this on its “peculiar” scale (A or B grades # of credits x 3 + C x 2 + D x 1 + F x 0 / total # of credits).
So for good measure I did the calculations for my whole bachellors= 2.52/3.0 could be better but at least I make the cutoff with a bit to spare. Afterwars I did the calculations for the last 2 years= 2.43, still hanging on… what about “the real” last two years of study (only two semesters total, one each year)? 2.32 whew! by the nails but still there! maybe I should apply directly to TUFS and Sophia before I go to the embassy… Well I got a closer look at the requirements and this is what it said for Sophia:
“The GPA, or grade point average, is part of the criteria stated by MEXT for the scholarship applicants. Applicants must score GPA of 2.50 or above on a
3-point MEXT grading scale (average of courses registered in the most recent 1-year as full-time degree student) to be eligible to apply for the MEXT scholarship. Using the MEXT-specified grade conversion chart and GPA calculation formula below, please check your eligibility.”
Same goes for TUFS, or so I thought, but it ends up the 2.5 GPA during the “most recent 1-year as full-time degree student” for TUFS is the requirement for privately financed international students already enrolled. Silly me! I tought…
Well, kinda, and correct me if I’m wrong (https://www.sophia.ac.jp/jpn/global/international/scholarship/ForeignStudents/top-global_0.html) but this looks like the university recommendation form for students applying from abroad, not for students already enrolled…
So it seems like Sophia has it own set of rules, yet it says quite clearly that it is MEXT that will reject students who have a GPA below 2.5 (not 2.3) over THE LAST (1) YEAR (not 2 years) OF STUDIES.
???
Did MEXT change the minimun GPA criteria this year? Or is this a university-by-university case-by-case thing?
If that’s so, I’m even more discouraged now than ever since I’d assume that’s the same filter the universities go by when sorting out embassy applications, and not a lot of Japanese universities express it clearly (as Sophia does) on their websites.
So lets say I apply to university A,B, and C on my embassy submission: A and C are impressed with my research proposal, language skill, CV etc… theyre not too thrilled about my GPA but they still choose to give me the scholarship! horray I guess, yet university B has a 2.7 GPA cutoff which they never stiupulated on their website so they just threw my application away after seeing it.
Well, at least I still got the scholarship, but what if I had applied to universities D,E and F instead, all of which have an undisclosed 2.6 GPA cutoff?
Also, if I were to apply to Sophia now, the internal selection process would still be going on while the embassy selection process opens in my country, to my understanding this would disqualify me from applying through the embassy since I have not received an answer from the university during the embassy selection timeframe.
Even if thats not the case, I’d assume writing “rejected” from x when applying through the embassy would take points away for me when MEXT and the universities I applied to see the application form, and this would only get worse when I try to apply once again through university recommendation in AUG/OCT.
Also, Id like to add: my MEXT GPA for the “last year” (as in from january to december) is actually 2.8/3.0 since I only studied one semester in the whole year and only did my thesis and internship in said semester, does that count as “the most recent 1-year as full-time degree student”, because if that’s so, it seems like I shouldn’t be worrying so much since I’ll be blowing the competition away due to a stupid technicallity! lol
Please get back to me on this issue brother, I can’t be the only one wondering.
Take care and sayonara!
Hi Ahmad,
There’s a very simple explanation here for the different GPA levels, and you even said it yourself.
The requirements you found are for the Top Global University MEXT Scholarship application. There is a different set of standards (not to mention a different application deadline) for those scholarships. Unfortunately, they are not posted on MEXT’s website (like the requirements for the Embassy and University Recommended MEXT Scholarship are.)
I can assure you that for the Embassy and University, there are no secret higher GPA cutoffs, at least not in terms of predetermined numbers.
It really comes down to the number of other applicants and their GPAs. If your GPA is 2.43, but they get 15 applicants with a GPA of over 2.70, then (for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship), your application probably would not be considered. For the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, by the time the university sees your application in the first place, you would have already passed the Embassy’s Primary Screening and so essentially be guaranteed to receive the scholarship. I know that were I worked, at least, we never calculated GPAs for Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholars who were seeking LoAs. (It all come down to whether or not their target professor was able to/interested in supervising their research).
I hope that helps.
I would recommend in your case that you focus on the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship process, rather than the TGU.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks for clearing that up! I really thought MEXT had changed the whole process this year!
Hi Travis,
Thank you for your helpful information in your blog!
I have been informed that I am a candidate for the MEXT Scholarship by the university (“University A”). But before applying for the University A, I also applied for another university in Japan in a privately financed program (“University B”). Then, I got the result from the University A that I will be nominated so I signed the letter of acceptance to be a candidate for the MEXT Scholarship. After that, the University B was announced that I was also a selected applicant and my COE was completed as well (they need to prepare the COE because this program will start in April.).
I, therefore, rejected the University B and they proceed to withdraw my COE. I also informed the whole situation to the University A and they understood it and just told me to wait patiently for the official result from MEXT at the end of June to the early of July.
However, My big concern I just saw item 5 of disqualification criteria describing that any person who plans to enrol in a Japanese university prior to the start of the scholarship award period is ineligible to apply for the scholarship. I don’t know whether the COE application which was just cancelled can be counted as this ineligibility and will affect the MEXT’s consideration.
Look forward to your opinion on this point. Thank you!
Hi Eggo,
Congratulations! While there is still a long while to wait before the official MEXT results, being nominated by University A all but guarantees that you will receive the scholarship in the end.
Since you have informed University B that you withdrew from the application and they have already cancelled your enrollment, the disqualification criteria you mentioned is not relevant in your case and you have nothing to worry about. Had you accepted university B’s offer of admission and planned to study there for a semester before starting your MEXT scholarship at University A, that would have been a problem.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis,
Thank you again for your reply. I feel a bit relieved during this longsuffering waiting!
As per your reply, it should mean the COE applying process doesn’t relate to the term of enrollment under that criteria. Also, that item only enforces on a person who enrolls or accepts the offer to enroll in another university while waiting for the MEXT’s result.
Are my understandings correct? Thank you so much!
To make my questions clearer, even my COE as a student residence was completed but I didn’t use it to apply for a visa, this won’t be counted as the enrollment under that ineligibility criteria, will this?
Thank you again!
Hi Eggo,
Was the CoE issued? If so, the university would have to return it to the immigration bureau.
In either case, it will not count as enrollment under the MEXT Scholarship rules, so you do not need to worry about that. However, you would want to be sure that the CoE application was withdrawn before the document was issued or if the CoE was issued, that it was returned to the Immigration Bureau.
(You only need to worry about this if the CoE was issued and the university sent it to you – if they cancelled the application or they returned the CoE without sending it to you, everything would be taken care of already).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Eggo,
I’m glad to hear that I was able to help!
That is correct that the CoE application will not affect your MEXT application and that the eligibility criteria only refers to students who actually enroll or accept the offer to enroll in another university. There is no rule against applying in the meantime as a backup plan.
Since they have withdrawn the application, there should be no problem when you go to apply for your Student Visa for the MEXT Scholarship later, either.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for your reply!
I also enquired the Japan embassy in my country and its officer advised the same as you. However, she did not sure whether a visa application in this September will be affected if my CoE is cancelled/returned to the immigration bureau. Is there any period to wait for applying for a visa after the cancellation/return of the CoE? or have you ever heard anyone who cancelled/returned the CoE and could not apply for a visa?
I am sorry to be such a bother!
Hi Eggo,
No, I have never heard of anyone who was not able to apply for a CoE/visa in that situation.
The only related incident that know of was when my university tried to apply for a second CoE for a (non-MEXT) student who had deferred admission and let his first one expire without applying for a visa. In that case, the Immigration Bureau would not let us apply for a second CoE for him until we had returned the first with a letter of explanation. But once we returned it, we were able to apply for the next CoE with no trouble.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
It seems like I need to ensure that the CoE must be properly cancelled. Other than that it looks fine!
Thanks a bunch for your time and effort.
Congratulations on being nominated! If you don’t mind me asking, which university is it? I have been waiting for results for the selected nominees. I still got no e-mail if I got selected or rejected, but I guess I just have to patiently wait for it. Thank you!
Hi Satoh,
I’ll leave it to Eggo to reply or not about the university.
Often, universities will put the results release date in the application guidelines. Was that not the case for you?
For the general university recommended MEXT Scholarship, universities need to submit their final list of nominees to MEXT to arrive between Mar 18 – 28, and in most cases, they would contact applicants first to confirm your intent to study with them, so they should have reached out already. It would not be a bad idea now for you to contact them to ask, since that deadline is so close.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you very much for your insight. Unfortunately, a timeline was not included on the admission guidelines. Earlier, I emailed the professor and he only mentioned that I had to wait until June for the results.
Thank you!
Hi Satoh,
For the standard University Recommended MEXT Scholarship, June is when MEXT is supposed to release its final results, so this should actually be good news.
If the university did not select you for nomination to MEXT, they should already be able to tell you that at this point. The only reason to tell you to wait for MEXT’s results, as far as I can see, would be if you were still in the running.
Of course, I would feel more comfortable if they had told you that you were nominated.
The only other possibility I can think of is if you are a candidate for a Top Global University MEXT Scholarship slot. I have not found the decision timeline for that scholarship this year, but I will keep looking. Sometimes, those slots may be determined at the same time as the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship.
I will share more information about that process when I have it.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Satoh,
Mine is Nagoya University 🙂
Hi Travis,
The university told me to not to worry about CoE or whatever. Just have to be patient til June/July though. Thank you for your advice!
Hi Eggo,
Thank you for your reply and information on the CoE!
The June/July timeframe sounds right based on my experience.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Eggo,
i am also nominated from Nagoya,could i connect with you via any social media?
Hi Satoh, I also haven’t received an email from Hokkaido university till now. I worry if I am not the selected nominees.
Hi Rany Adelina,
If they have not contacted you by now, I would certainly recommend that you reach out to them!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Dear Travis,
Thank you for your advice regarding COE issues. I received an email a week ago saying that I am granted the scholarship for the PGP!
Thank you so much for you great effort on this infomative blog!
Dear Travis,
Thank you so much for your valuable information and exhaustive effort to help students.
I have applied for MEXT scholarship this school year and have done all screening by the University, that is under the Top Global University Project. When I applied, my English score did not meet the minimum requirement of MEXT scholarship. So the University asked me to do many interviews to demonstrate my English ability. Finally, I received a notification that I have been selected by the University Recommendation for MEXT Scholarship. But they also repeatedly told me that it might not be certain.
Is there any chance I will not receive the scholarship despite being nominated by the University because of my lack of English certificate? If I receive the scholarship, do I need to have at least one before entering the degree program? Please let me know if that would be possible.
Thank you very much for your time!
Best Regards
Hi Benedict,
Once you are nominated by the university, then no, there is no chance that MEXT would reject you over your English language certificate. MEXT does not look at that.
The only ways to lose the scholarship at this point are if MEXT determines that you have been recommended by two different universities or if they find a reason why you would not be able to come to Japan – such as your having a history of being deported from Japan in the past or if you were an internationally wanted terrorist.
The other reason that the results are uncertain at this point is that MEXT’s budget for the coming Fiscal Year is not yet confirmed. If they were to experience a massive budget cut, then it is possible that some scholars would not be approved for the scholarship, but I have not heard of that happening in the past, so it should be nothing to worry about.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you so much for your response.
There is a problem that I concern. According to your post, students who fail to meet the language ability requirement when they progress to the degree program would forfeit the scholarship.
I currently do not have any English certificates that meet MEXT requirements. Does that mean if I don’t want to lose the scholarship, I have to get at least one English certificate before entering the degree program in October?
Please let me know.
Hi Benedict,
If you did not complete your previous degree in English and do not have a language proficiency certificate equal to CEFR B2, there is still the catchall criteria, “Have equivalent or higher ability in English language to a person meeting criteria 1 or 2 above, as determined by the nominating university.”
As long as your university is satisfied with your English language ability and determines that your ability is sufficient to complete your degree, you will not have a problem. If you have any concerns about whether your ability meets their expectations, I would recommend that you talk to your advisor once you arrive. I would not anticipate any problems, though. My understanding is that this criteria exists to weed out the scholars who arrive and end up having no English ability whatsoever and cannot complete their degrees. (Yes, that does happen occasionally).
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thank you very much for your great explanation!
I was so worried before I talked to you. Your answers make me feel much more relieved.
My university has sent a notification that my application is now fully complete and get ready to send a recommendation to MEXT for my scholarship funding. They ask me to wait until by the end of July for the decision regarding the awarding of the scholarship determined by MEXT.
I guess what I need to do now is stop worrying and wait for the final result.
Again, thank you so much for what you have done for me!
Hi Benedict,
Congratulations! If the university is sending your nomination forward to MEXT, then you should almost certainly be receiving the scholarship! I have never heard of anyone losing it at this point.
It is a long wait and may try your patience, but I expect that you will hear good news in the end!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
hello dear Travis,
i had a question about the language ability criteria,
Does “formal enrollment” means when one passes university’s entrance exam and turns into a formal graduate student? or does it mean the time when one is applying for the letter of acceptance after passing the 1st screening in the embassy?
and do you think that this criteria will be the same in embassy track application too?
thank you.
Hi Arti,
By formal enrollment, I meant when you pass the entrance exams and start the degree program.
It’s hard to say whether the same requirement will apply in the embassy track. I would not be surprised to see that happen. On the other hand, during the embassy track, one of the steps you go through is a language proficiency test before the primary screening. I do not think that will change, and that should ensure a minimum level of language ability, so there may be no need to implement a similar requirement there.
I would suggest that you aim to hit at least B2 level language ability by the start of your application for the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, just in case, but I won’t know what the exact requirements will look like for another 2 months.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Hi Travis! This is Spiros.
So, I think I didn’t let you know I was eventually informed that my application had arrived on time (even though it was one day later!) and had been accepted back in December.
However, I have not received any feedback yet, and Ritsumeikan is supposed to announce the results on Feb 15. Is it common for universities to give some feedback or possibly conduct interviews to those they have decided to consider for primary screening before the date they have announced, or is this a later stage? In other words, does the fact that I haven’t heard from them yet probably mean rejection?
Thank you!
Hi Spiros,
It is good to hear from you again! I was a little worried about the silence in the meantime and hoped that it did not mean bad news, but I am glad that your application was accepted.
I have never heard of a university giving feedback during the screening process, unless you had missing documents or they had additional items that they wanted you to submit (We made sure that was not the case for you!)
Universities are supposed to conduct interviews “to the maximum degree possible”, including skype or email interviews as options. The actual implementation is going to be left to the discretion of each individual graduate program, so I cannot say for certain how they would approach it for your program. (This goes without saying, but make sure that you have whitelisted the university’s entire domain in your email and checked your spam box, too, to make sure that you haven’t missed a message from them).
I hope you hear from them soon!
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
Thanks! I checked, and of course there was nothing. Do you think I should possibly email them about it, or just wait and see?
Hi Spiros,
Unless you have a direct contact with a professor there, I don’t think that emailing the office that handles applications would get you any result. They would likely just tell you to wait for the official results.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz
What information should a letter of recommendation contain? I would like to draft one for my dean to sign
Hi Allan,
I have a separate article about the “Required Documents” for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship that includes a description of what the Letter of Recommendation should look like, so I recommend that you check there.
Good Luck!
– Travis from TranSenz