HS & University fees

[Seasider4374]

I appreciate I may well be asking "how long is a piece of string" but (excluding the elitist of schools) what do high school, and university, tuition fees typically cost currently (rent, utilities and daily spends excluded)?

I'm four years away from my kid's HS entrance and so would like to see how I may need to adjust my future financial planning, to ideally helping them with the fees and leaving them debt free post graduation.

[beanhead]

Public or private school/uni? Big difference there.

captainspoke has shared his numbers for public uni on another thread discussing education costs.

[captainspoke]

For public uni, I think tuition was ¥480,000/semester (same for 国立 and 県立). Then you consider living expenses. Of course living at home/local would be cheapest, going away to big and bigger cities will cost more. Things like how often the student would then return home from there, are they M/F and would you want more secure housing (e.g., autolock), close/walkable to classes (more) or a bus/train stop(s) away, and so on. Is there a dorm at first, that both is acceptable and has space? Will they work for spending money or other contributions to the cost--and how much will you push on that?

We put two thru uni, both public, and I've said in the past that it was probably about ¥30m total for the two of them. In different ways, they each took five years, so added cost due to that. One missed on their first try and then studied for a year and tried again (succesfully!), the other wanted a year abroad and not all credits transferred back so it became five (but that year abroad was cheaper than a year done here).

The one that missed did that year of study away from home (osaka), and if I remember that year cost something over ¥2m. Then four years also there at close to ¥3.0m/year--so lets's say 14m overall. The other went to tokyo, more expensive (and farther from home), usually over ¥3m/yr, and little less than that for the year abroad--maybe ¥16m overall.

So their HS years seemed cheap...! If I remember right it might have been about ¥30k/month each. (neither went to juku, so 'saved' some money there)

Many of those years the yen was 100 to the dollar, or far closer to that than now. So ¥30m then might have been closer to $300k, and now it would be more like $200--so would it be right to say that it's cheaper now?

*

If you want to control costs... One way might be to say that out of HS they have to try for a variety of 3 schools, and they have to take one (no year off to study and try again). Another way might be that they have to live at home/locally--could be either public or private, but it has to be commutable from home (if they do then get an apartment, likely cheaper than a big city). Also, an easy one--no year abroad.

Good luck!

[Isodora]

For public HS there used to be a monthly fee of about 10,000 if you were above a certain income, possibly they abolished it. Otherwise - similar to public MS - besides the school uniform, the sports uniform, the sports club uniform (if applicable) and one school trip (this time abroad), and where applicable - many public HS allow bicycles - commuting fees (student teiki have a reduced fee), no additional costs apply.

You normally have to prepare for juku costs though, very few students go without, as here you will not only study the exam contents, but the most efficient strategy how to pass the entrance tests and get used to the exam set up via many mock tests. Most students start at least two years before graduation.

Monthly cost can be around 20,000 to 30,000 Yen or more (you pay per subject: Science, Japanese, English mainly), plus a summer course and a winter course (optional but they juku heads are often quite experienced Sales people very good at exploiting our fears ).

You can only sit the exam for one public HS, but for as many private schools as you like (application fees required). Typically those students who want to enter a public HS, aim for one a bit below their level and as a back-up for one or two private schools, where entrance is almost guaranteed (considering the student‘s level).

A bit off topic: Although the fact that jukus exist/have to exist is an expensive nuisance, they are (from my limited experience), much better at finding the right and realistic fit for your child than the MS teachers, who are not only extremely overworked, but often not so familiar with the schools in the vicinity, as they may be recent transfers from other areas. Also, the jukus regularly evaluate (you will be presented with detailed computer prints several times per year) their students and are very good at judging for which schools (at that stage ) they will have a high chance, which was also great for foreign parents like we both are, who had little insight of how the system works - at least in the beginning.

Our private university cost about 1.4 Mio per year, plus entrance fee (300,000?). For the (privately organized) year abroad, we had to pay around 150,000 to secure the place.

Again juku fees (for most) apply about two years in advance and the quite costly application fees of a few man per university your child wants to sit the exam for - about five in our case. Also, depending on the exam sequence, it can happen that you will have to pay a fee to secure the Uni of e. g. your 2nd choice, in case you cannot get into the one of your first choice (where the exam was unfortunately later), way for the schools to generate additional income.

Good luck!

[Seasider4374]

Thanks to all replies - great information to keep in the back of my mind. Many thanks

[TJKansai]

Our private university cost about 1.4 Mio per year, plus entrance fee (300,000?). For the (privately organized) year abroad, we had to pay around 150,000 to secure the place.

I generally agree with the estimate for private.
¥6,000,000 for tuition, plus books, transport and food costs. Add xxx if they don't live at home.

With the JPY were it is now, a year abroad probably starts at ¥3,000,000 and the sky is the limit.

I have been looking recently, and a room at a uni town in Belgium is about ¥70,000-¥120,000/month.

Rough budget for 10 months:
1,000,000 housing
1,400,000 tuition
200,000 transport
1,000,000 food

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

1,000,000 food

That seems high.... are they a professional athlete?

[captainspoke]

...
With the JPY were it is now, a year abroad probably starts at ¥3,000,000 and the sky is the limit.
...

For a while now, national uni have had a very nice exchange system with other uni around the world. While you do have to test into it--be accepted at the school here (as being their sponsoree?), and be accepted as an exchange student at the foreign uni they partner with--once that's done it's cheap, relatively speaking.

During that year abroad, you continue paying the normal tuition to their nat'l uni here, as tho they (the student) were still attending school here. So ¥480k x2 terms. The costs after that are transport there and back, housing/food, books, and spending money. If they get into an international student dorm (ours did), that can be as cheap as living here (and cheaper than living in tokyo). The list of partner universities was extensive, many schools in both north america and europe, names that you'd associate with a high QS ranking.

[Isodora]

Our private university cost about 1.4 Mio per year, plus entrance fee (300,000?). For the (privately organized) year abroad, we had to pay around 150,000 to secure the place.

I generally agree with the estimate for private.
¥6,000,000 for tuition, plus books, transport and food costs. Add xxx if they don't live at home.

With the JPY were it is now, a year abroad probably starts at ¥3,000,000 and the sky is the limit.

I have been looking recently, and a room at a uni town in Belgium is about ¥70,000-¥120,000/month.

Rough budget for 10 months:
1,000,000 housing
1,400,000 tuition
200,000 transport
1,000,000 food

Sorry, this was easy to misunderstand as I only later noticed: We had to pay around 150,000 Yen to the university here, in order to secure the place when he left halfway through (after the 4th semester).

The year abroad was almost for free, as it consisted of five months “Baito” in my home country, (and that came with a room), travel throughout Europe, followed by another job while staying at a friend’s place. Very good - though not always pleasant - experience.

[TJKansai]

1,000,000 food

That seems high.... are they a professional athlete?

Pro, no. But athletic young male who can burn 3,000-4,000 calories a day and still not put on weight.

¥1,000,000 (for 10 months) works out to about US$20/day.
$20 might buy you a cheap lunch...

It's impossible to spend less unless you cook at home a lot.