Cost Of University?

[dogsbody70]

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?

[kyo_9]

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!

[Nyororin]

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.

Can you stay on campus or do you lodge outside?

On campus housing is pretty rare - nearly unheard of, really. Some universities will have a dorm, but it is usually off campus and may be something closer to a couple floors of a large apartment building that are owned by the university. It`s actually more common for elementary through high school to have dormitories if it is a prestigious school. University aged students are adult enough to live on their own, but those younger need support and supervision. My husband lived in a dormitory through high school.

The cameraderie must be great? Home study must be harder.

I think that any educational experience is what you make of it. Home study doesn`t necessarily make it more difficult to find a niche, and being part of a university doesn`t necessarily make it easier. High school seems to be much heavier on the the camaraderie.

Is it all worth while?

When I was working toward my degree, the simple acquisition of knowledge made it worth it for me. I wasn`t aiming to make money off of the degree, and had no career in mind that would make use of it (I still don`t, really.)
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.

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?

I think you make an excellent point here. Right now in Japan, there are too many IT graduates and too few positions for them. At the same time, there are too few graduates in other scientific / engineering fields. But I think this is a self correcting trend. When there is lower demand for one set of skills, people will stop choosing it and begin to go after one more lucrative. Already the number of IT students is going down in favor of full blown EE for those with an honest interest in the field, or others for those who saw it as a way to make money.

[Saradus]

Originally Posted by Nyororin

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.

UK is incredibly cheap (comparatively) at least for the undergraduate level (first degree after high school). At present, tuition fees are capped to around £3500 a year (around $5600). So no university can charge above that yearly. Although a recent government legislation is about to come into effect (in the next year or two) which will lift the cap to around £12000 ($19300), at least I think it's around that figure.

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.

[cranks]

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.

[Saradus]

Originally Posted by cranks

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?

Yes everyone pays now (although international students pay a lot more). The only people who don't pay are Scottish citizens who choose to study at Scottish Unis. They're fees are completely waivered by the Scottish government.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by Saradus

Yes everyone pays now (although international students pay a lot more). The only people who don't pay are Scottish citizens who choose to study at Scottish Unis. They're fees are completely waivered by the Scottish government.

Damn! Scottish!

jk.

I didn't see your post. Still REALLY cheap compared to the universities in the states or the private universities in Japan.

[GoNative]

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.

[cranks]

Originally Posted by GoNative

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.

This sounds like a very good system to me. It's hard to put this kind of sophisticated policy in place in a larger country like the US though.

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by cranks

This sounds like a very good system to me. It's hard to put this kind of sophisticated policy in place in a larger country like the US though.

I agree. That sort of system sounds great.
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.