Studying In Japan

OSAKA--Many foreigners studying in Japan are finding it increasingly difficult to pay admission fees and tuition for schools and universities due to the appreciation of the yen during the global recession.

The number of foreigners studying in the nation peaked at about 124,000 this academic year, but 90 percent of them are self-funded.

Finances are a serious concern for an increasing number of foreign students, especially privately financed students from China, Southeast Asian nations and South Korea, which has seen its won drop sharply against the yen.

Of 80 students from 10 nations studying at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, 44 students from China and South Korea were unable to pay their tuition for the autumn semester before the original due date of Oct. 20. Although the university extended the deadline by two months, 17 students were still unable to pay the fee, leading the university to further postpone the due date.

Among the cash-strapped students was Lee Yon Suk, 30, a South Korean studying at the university's Japanese Studies Department.

"I've pushed myself to the limit, and I don't know what more I can do if the yen stays high. I can't ask my parents for financial support because I don't want to be a burden on them," she said.

She scraped the tuition fee together by working part-time as a translator and doing other jobs.

In July, the government launched a program at the initiative of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to increase the number of foreign students in the nation to 300,000, but it was not designed to provide urgent financial support. The program is overseen by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.

Some universities and colleges are now working to help students in need, by extending due dates for tuition payments and offering financial support.

In January last year, 100 won was equivalent to about 11.2 yen but has since dropped dramatically, fetching just 6.61 yen on Friday. The value of other Asian currencies, such as the Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht, also has plunged against the yen.

Students receiving scholarships from the Japanese government obtain the money in yen, but half of the privately funded students do not receive any scholarships, according to a ministry estimate.

As the yen strengthens, the value of currency sent by students' parents and the money they saved before coming to Japan weakens, causing financial hardships for many students. Most students are already working the maximum 28 hours a week allowed on a student visa and therefore cannot earn some extra cash by working more.

Osaka University has received several inquiries from students who cannot afford to pay tuition and rent.

Oemry Ferensa, a 26-year-old Indonesian student who entered the university's Graduate School of Engineering last autumn, has not yet paid about 550,000 yen in entrance fees and tuition for the first semester. If he is still unable to pay by the end of February, he will have to leave the school.

The ministry provides 50,000 yen in monthly financial support to privately funded undergraduates and 70,000 yen to postgraduates. Although the budget for this support for fiscal 2009 has been expanded from the previous year to cover 12,470 students--an increase of 370 students--it is still not enough to support all the students in need.

The ministry's Office for International Student Exchange hopes the harsh financial climate will not discourage foreigners who want to study in Japan, nor the universities hoping to attract them.

The ministry hopes to expand its own financial support program for foreign students.

The Yomiuri Shimbun