NHK has learned that a major private university in Japan is considering raising tuition fees for overseas students due to rising costs to accept them.
As of March last year, Tokyo's Waseda University had 5,562 foreign students, more than any other school in Japan.
Currently, both Japanese and non-Japanese students of Waseda University pay the same tuition fees.
But university officials said the school has to bear costs for foreign students to offer a variety of support and they want them to pay higher tuition fees to cover those costs.
Officials said they will consider when and how much the tuition will go up.
Education ministry officials received consultations from multiple universities about possible tuition hikes.
Officials say that if Waseda University decides to increase the tuition for foreign students, many other schools may follow suit.
NHK asked the top 30 national, public and private universities across Japan regarding their overseas students whether they plan to raise tuition fees for non-Japanese students. The schools were selected based on statistics gathered by the Japan Student Services Organization statistics in May last year.
Toyo University, Teikyo University and two other schools told NHK that they had no plans to raise their tuition. Twenty-one universities, including the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, Ritsumeikan University and Nihon University, said they have not made any decisions yet.
Keio University responded that while it will not raise tuition for non-Japanese students for the next fiscal year, it has not made a decision for fiscal 2027 and beyond.
Earlier this year, Tohoku University announced it would raise its tuition fees 1.7 times the amount for Japanese students. Hiroshima University has also decided to raise its fees in the future.
In order to accept foreign students, Japanese universities could spend extra money to offer them Japanese language education and provide them with housing.
Ministry officials said it would be necessary for Japanese schools to raise fees to a certain extent to improve the quality and environment of education so that they can accept even more qualified foreign students.
Japanese universities are said to be lagging behind their overseas counterparts in terms of globalization.
Foreign students account for more than 32 percent among all students in Australia and 22 percent in Britain. But the number stands at 5.9 percent in Japan.
Education ministry officials said tuition fees at Japanese universities are relatively low compared to those at overseas schools. Many schools in the West charge higher tuition fees for foreign students than domestic students.
For instance, international students at the University of California pay about 3.4-times higher tuition than domestic students, while foreign students at University of Oxford pay about 3-times.
Japan's education ministry abolished the upper limit for foreign students of national universities last year.

Quiz 1:
As of March last year, which university in Japan had the most foreign students?
A. Waseda University
B. Tokyo University
C. Kyoto University
D. Ritsumeikan University

[Answer block]
Answers:
Quiz 1: A

Quiz 2:
In which year did Japan's education ministry abolish the upper limit for foreign students of national universities?
A. 2024
B. 2023
C. 2022
D. 2021

[Answer block]
Answers:
Quiz 2: C

Quiz 3:
Which of the following universities stated they have no plans to raise tuition for non-Japanese students?
A. Toyo University, Keio University
B. Teikyo University, Kyoto University
C. Ritsumeikan University, Hiroshima University
D. Nihon University, University of Tokyo

[Answer block]
Answers:
Quiz 3: A