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Cost Of University?
I wonder what it costs in Japan to attend University or Higher college.
It seems to be getting way too expensive here in UK and also what about lodgings. Can you stay on campus or do you lodge outside? I imagine part of belonging to a UNI-- is the social aspect and all the facilities and clubs, organisations etc.The cameraderie must be great? Home study must be harder. with so many graduates ending up with high fees to repay when they earn enough-- Is it all worth while? Here there seem to be lots of graduates who cannot get a decent job. also when you decide to study special subjects-- do you have an end in Mind? A field of work that you would love to join and progress in. are there enough scientiic or engineering students? So many seem to be going in for I T. Is that wise? will there be jobs out there if too many students plump for I T? |
hmm..
roughly speaking national universities are cheaper than private.. for engineering student, a year tuition fees would cost around 30万円 (USD 3700); however, it goes beyond 150万円 for private university! |
I found university in Japan to be much much cheaper than similar options available in the US. However, this was as a resident student and not an international student which was much higher in cost. This was true even at private universities.
I have no idea what the costs of university are like in the UK, but if they are similar to the costs in the US - Japan is significantly cheaper. Of course, the sky is always the limit when it comes to these things and it isn`t hard to find places with outrageous fees - but in general the costs are quite low. Quote:
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I`m just one of those people who finds most things fascinating, and enjoy learning. I`m one to pick up textbooks and read them for the fun of it... So yes, it was very much worth it in my opinion. I would love to just go back for more study, but don`t want to deal with the other requirements for a second degree. I just want to take the courses I find interesting. Quote:
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But even then, all tuition fees are covered by the government for households earning less than around £30000 ($48000) a year. Most of this is in the form of a student loan, which is repayable as a proportion of the students paycheck after they earn £15000 a year ($24000) out of uni. The interest rate is incredibly low (0% - 1.5% recently) and is equal to the base rate of inflation. If students haven't paid it all off after a certain period of time (I think 25 years?), then the entire remaining loan is waivered. The rest of the tuition fees are covered by grants, which don't need to be repayed. Students also get maintenance loans and grants which cover accommodation and living costs (again government-paid). I personally get about £5800 ($9300) a year for living costs with half my tuition fees covered by government loan and the other half by a grant. So UK students really get it easy when it comes to the financial side of university. |
I second Nyororin. The cost of Japanese university is really cheap if you go to public ones.
When I was in the UK, there was no "tuition" for British citizens if I remember correctly. Have things changed? Edit: I didn't see Saradus's post. So it's still very cheap for British nationals. It costs tens of thousands of pounds a year just for tuition for a foreigner. Not to say it's bad. It's great what the UK government it doing to it's citizens. |
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jk. :p I didn't see your post. Still REALLY cheap compared to the universities in the states or the private universities in Japan. |
In Australia we have a system where you are not required to pay fees up front to attend university. You pay off your tuition after you have finished and have full time work through extra tax. Once you start earning over something like $35k per year you pay a percent or two extra tax. The more you earn the more extra tax you pay, up to an extra 6%. I was paying the top rate most of the time and had all my tuition payed of by the time I was 30. And then it was like I got a 6% pay rise! All in all I think it's a good system. How rich your parents are has no bearing on what university you can attend.
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I don`t think the size of the country is what would make it difficult to implement in the US though - it`s basically just a system to pay back a loan. The thing is, the price of university would need to be reasonable to make that sort of system work. The universities I had looked into attending in the US were around US$10,000/year for in-state, US$25,000/yr for out of state students. My complete 4 year degree in Japan ended up about US$10,000. I paid for it in cash (well, bank transfer) each month. About US$200 a month - nothing significant. My son`s kindergarten has cost more - when he finishes, we`ll have pumped almost US$12,000 into his 3 years of pre-elementary school education. This makes me feel that university is extremely affordable in Japan. |
Actually just checked out the wiki page for tertiary education fees in Aus and things seem to have changed a little since I completed my degree. Certainly with the increases in wages and cost of living you now have to earn over $44k per year before you have to start paying extra tax to pay back the tuition fees. The average full time wage in Ausrtalia now is something like $65k!
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It'd be really easy to get a loan and just disappear here in the sates and it happens a lot. I don't do it because (my conscience aside) I have a stable job and chances to have even better ones. But unfortunately, it's harder to secure this kind of place for everybody when the country is big, methinks. I agree though. Japanese universities are really cheap. So do the British ones. But kindergartens in Japan are outrageous aren't they? I don't know how you guys are putting up with that. Oh, wait, I know your baby is so cute and makes you a better person and all that. Yeah, actually, they are cute :) |
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Having a child didn`t make me a better person, nor does having one make anyone else a better person (in my opinion)... But it doesn`t make me a worse person - something I feel can happen and does happen too often with other people. (Living a horrible life is one thing when it`s just you, but to drag a child into one makes you a terrible person... All just my opinion of course.) Anyone who doesn`t want to deal with the costs of kindergarten doesn`t have to enroll their child. It`s not compulsory. |
Those kindergarten fees don't seem too bad at all. We have our 17 month old daughter in private day care 5 days a week and she's there from around 08:15 to 17:45 each day. It costs us Y58,000 per month. There's only about 10 kids and they get to do plenty of great activities and get fed probably better than I do. When you work out the hourly rate being charged it's very cheap. At least half the cost of what it would be in Australia.
We could have put her in the town day care facility for almost half the cost but we think she gets much better care where she is. |
I attend an American university in Tokyo. The cost of the school itself is comparable to the average American school in the states (~8,000 USD a semester), but the Office of Immigration needed what is called "Proof of Financial Viability" before they'd issue me a visa, which is basically proof that I could support all of my costs of living in Japan for one year. To satisfy this requirement, I had to prove that I had access to at least 3 million yen, which at the time was equal to a little over 30,000 USD.
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in latvia its ~ 1500 lats (3 000) dollars for each year and there aren't any sweet deals like that. |
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BBC News - University course fee increases 'could deter students'
items about changes in University costs etc in UK. |
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It`s great that you found a good private daycare. I`ve found that (in using them for short term things) there is a real variety in their quality. There are different regulations for their teachers - they don`t require the levels of education that the hoikuen do - so if you`re unlucky the teachers can be really clueless. Hoikuen tend to be pretty standard. Not exceptional, but never bad. |
Going abroad
thanks to Jambo for this. maybe it could help somebody on here. Tuition fee blow for middle class: Government accused of imposing 'stealth tax' | Mail Online student protests in UK. BBC News - Violence at Tory HQ overshadows student fees protest |
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I'm now doing a course at LSE and even the basic electives are way harder than my program in Japan - even with the language barrier! |
I'm paying around $27,000 annually plus housing to attend the University of Oregon. HELLA EXPENSIVE!....but not as expensive as USC or UCLA!
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Books, tuition, everything under 24k total for 4 years, and that's 24k CAD, not USD lol. |
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The cost of university is extortiant, especially in the UK where you can now be paying up to £9k a year, or a lot more if you're an international student, and that isn't including accomodation, food, books, travel and so forth. I do still maintain that it's possible for anyone and everyone to receive an education, regardless of monetary funds and economic background. I - for many reasons - had to do my university degree through distance learning, but because I'm a fulll-time student I don't work, so I have no income, and my uni is kind enough to waive fees for students in this case, in fact I even received help for books and equipment. If a student knows where to look and plans correctly then they can still get an education, even if it's not the exact one they may have liked. I think home-study is more difficult. It gets lonely at times, because half my friends work full-time and the other half are away at brick-and-mortar universities, so I'm more often than not alone. I think in some respects it can be better. It enables a student to organise their timetable to suit their life, encourages independent study, allows for more concentration, and so forth. There is a lack of social interaction and independence, because one isn't living alone or meeting new people, but at the same time - for some - the pros far outweigh the cons. Less debts, more free time, closer to family, easier to concentrate, easier to revise . . . The downside is - like you said - there are no jobs. I literally can't work in the UK. If I was to be a teacher here I'd need to go into debt to spend an extra year at university (the government/uni won't offer support for anything other than the first degree), then move to some obscure part of the country in hopes of finding a vacancy, and all for tuppence of a wage. I'm lucky that I want to work abroad. I earn exactly the same as I would in the UK, and I get an apartment found for me and key-money/deposits paid for, and I don't have to go into debt and spend an extra year finding a job. I have several relatives who've emmegrated, and a few friends who wish to, and I can't blame any of them. Graduates have it tough. There just isn't any jobs going in this current climate. Sorry I can't answer many of the other questions, especially concerning Japan in specific, but other members have more eloquently and kindly offered good answers anyway. I will say though that I think - in this day and age - if one wants a good job in their hometown then it may be best looking at apprenticeships or NVQ's, because - depending on the individual's needs - it may not be in their best interests to get a degree. |
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wow man either Canada's got its education system together or the education is a joke. Two years of my high school education cost more than all of your university tuition....you;re quite smart to have studied in Canada then.
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our government subsidizes a lot of the cost, but our taxes are also higher |
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In Japan it's tough to enter universities but super easy to graduate. |
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I find your thoughts fascinating Robin. Is it truly so difficult to obtain work in the UK with your degree? Young people are urged to get to UNI- in order to educate themselves and presumably that should give them a huge advantage over those who have Not had University education. It appears Not so. I do wonder if it is the subject that they choose to study that may not be a great deal of use in the outside world-- with all the competition out there. Many seem to study Media studies, IT, etc whereas possibly there is need for physicists, scientists, engineers etc. Our manufacturing facilities are almost extinct in this country-- that is So bad. I believe one has to read the newspapers that advertise jobs to try to fathom what would be a good subject to study in order to obtain well paid work after Graduation. I admire you for studying at home, but it must have been very difficult and lonely for you. Would that be Open University? I imagine there is so much more to be gained from being in a University where there are hundreds of other students, possibly many from abroad-- so expanding ones experience, living among them all and learning a great deal at the same time. I wish our government would encourage more and enable those who have monetary difficulties. Our politicians did not have to pay for their time at University. Learning on the job used to be a good way to learn. |
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From what I have read, the Japanese have had intensive education. to what purpose? |
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they get big company jobs based on the name of the university they went to, in other words how hard they worked in high school and how rich their parents are several months of paid training at their new companies is where they get the necessary skills to work, not so much from their years at school think of university as the last break before you put your nose down to the grindstone for so many Japanese people |
Apart from the large Companies-- what other work might be available for University graduates?
would their degrees be at all appropriate for such work I wonder? |
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OKAY so what if they do not actually attend University? Or do they all have to attend?
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The area of study is hugely important. There's some areas, such as a while ago physiotherapy and speech therapy, that you could simply not find any work in whatsoever as there were no jobs going in those areas. Nursing and Psychology are highly competitive, which means getting jobs in those areas is a nightmare. Business Studies, I've been told by businessmen, is a complete waste of time - along with Philosophy - because it means nothing in the business world. At the moment IT is - as you say - perhaps one of the best to go into, it opens a hell of a lot of doors for the graduate. Quote:
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To be honest I didn't miss out too much on socialising and interaction. My friends are all rather diverse in terms of gender, religions, races and so forth, and my hometown is rather multi-cultural, too. The whole partying hard and binge-drinking aspect of uni never appealed to me anyway, I have to roll my eyes when my friends discuss their recent hangovers. So I don't feel I lost out. My priority was always the degree itself and the education, which is what I got. Just waiting for my results now :D |
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I have often considered doing an OU Course but so far done nothing about it. I was busy for five years in helping former child migrants trace their families plus being a listening ear for those who spent time in the so called Care System. I have done a lot of research in that field aprt from my own experiences I used to go to lots of different adult education classes-- my most favourite was Drama Therapy which I adored-- but that needed very careful handling. So many emotions to be considered. The cost now of Adult education is so high that on my pension I cannot really afford to go. Not sure if O. U. have/has a Japanese language Course. I agree--nobody wants to be forced into a job they would hate. But also these days no job is really secure-- not like the olden days when they were secure. Times are rapidly changing and I guess one has to be versatile and ready to try new things. The business world is so cut throat. At least if you can teach English, you can travel if that is your ambition. One is constantly learning in life--no matter ones age. I wish you success in whatever you do. It's tough out there these days. |
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