Japanese Government Scholarship Programs
2025 MEXT Specialized Training College Student Scholarship
The below information is for the prior year’s (2025) MEXT Scholarship and is retained for reference.
The Japanese Government is now offering scholarships to U.S. high school graduates who wish to pursue a two-year degree at a vocational college in Japan under the Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship Program for 2025.
Note: Only U.S. citizens who live in the Consulate’s jurisdiction of Northern California and Nevada are eligible to apply through this consulate. U.S. citizens residing in other regions should apply to the Japanese consulate responsible for their region. Please click here for a list of Japanese consulates in the United States.
1. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
- Applicants must hold U.S. citizenship. (Applicants who hold Japanese nationality at the time of application are not eligible.)
- Applicants must have been born on or after April 2, 2000.
- Applicants must be a high school graduate (at the time of participation in the program) or have the certified equivalent (i.e. GED)
- In principle, applicants must be able to arrive in Japan between April 1, 2025, and April 7, 2025. Departure from the home residence should be on or after April 1.
- Applicants must be willing to learn the Japanese language and to receive their education in Japanese.
2. APPLICATION PROCESS:
(1) Application Deadline
All applications must be received by 5:00 PM, Friday, May 24, 2024.
Please e-mail your completed applications and scanned required documents to:
Coordinator for Educational Affairs
Consulate General of Japan in San Francisco
E-mail: education@sr.mofa.go.jp
Note: Please send one set of required digital documents (you don’t have to duplicate files). Please keep total file size per e-mail less than 10 MB. If your files are larger than this, please send in sequential e-mails.
Note: Once we have received your application documents, we will reply to your e-mail. If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt within three business days, please follow up with a phone call or separate e-mail.
(2) Written Examination and Interview (First Screening)
Those candidates who pass the initial application document screening will be invited to take a series of written examinations in Japanese, English, and Mathematics in person at the Consulate General of Japan on Monday, June 24, 2024.
(Note 1: Calculators and other devices may NOT be used during the written examinations.)
(Note 2: You can find the past examination questions in the MEXT website.)
In addition, those candidates will be invited to participate in a short interview on the same day after testing.
(3) Notification of acceptance
Candidates will receive notification of acceptance by January 2025.
3. FAQ
- Q1 Letter of Recommendation:
- Please ask your recommender to e-mail the PDF to us directly.
- Q2 Transcript:
- If you have digital transcripts, please e-mail them to us. If you only have paper transcripts, you can e-mail a scanned copy, but you will be asked to e-mail the original copy after you pass the First Screening.
- Q3 Diploma:
- Please DO NOT send the original diploma. Please e-mail a scanned copy to us.
- Q4 Medical certificate:
- If it is difficult for you to submit your medical certificate by the deadline, please let us know. We can extend the due date of the medical certificate until the announcement of the results of first screening (mid-August).
Tel: (415) 780-6086
E-mail: education@sr.mofa.go.jp