How to Apply for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship

Updated as of the 2023-2024 application cycle.

Each year, MEXT releases the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship application guidelines around November/December, which is usually after most universities have finished their selection. So universities often start their recruiting based on the previous year’s guidelines.

If you are reading this in 2024 (applying to start your studies in Japan in fall 2025), this is still your best guide!

Updates from Previous Years

If you’ve applied in the past, or read my guides in the past, here are the changes from previous years. If you’re reading for the first time, you can skip this part.

• PGP Programs: Added the 2023 PGP Programs (updated on December 5).
• Priority Countries: Updated the list of priority countries based on the 2023 list. Almost all of Europe (except Russia and Belarus), all of Oceania, and Canada are now included!
• Eligibility: Applicants who received a MEXT Undergraduate Scholarship as a university-recommended PGP scholar may apply for the university-recommended MEXT scholarship for graduate students with no required waiting period.
• Number of slots available: While the calculation method is the same, the number of slots available is now based on the number of international graduate students enrolled as of May 1, 2022, which was the first semester that international students were allowed back into Japan after the pandemic. Hopefully that should mean a slight increase in slots over the previous year’s calculation, which was based on pandemic times!
• Eligibility to Apply: Clarification that English language proficiency scores must cover all four skills.
• Students Applying from Inside Japan: It is possible to apply while residing in Japan, but only for PGP programs. Up to 40% of a university’s nominees for their PGP programs can be from within Japan (an increase from 25% last year).

Article Overview

Here’s what this article will cover:

• Priority Countries and Eligible Nationalities
• Available scholarship types (General Category and PGP) and number of slots.
• Scholarship benefits
• How (and where) to apply
• Scholarship eligibility (separate article linked below)
• Forms and documents you will need to submit
• When to expect results
• How to increase your chances

---

Priority Countries and Eligible Nationalities

Why am I starting with this? Because if you are not from a Priority Country, your options are going to be limited, and you should know that before you start.

Japan has identified a list of Priority Countries and requires that all General Category nominees be from these countries.

As of the 2023/2024 application cycle, no more than 25% of each PGP program’s nominees may be from one of the priority countries. Note that if a university has multiple PGP programs, this percentage is not cumulative across programs. Each program is considered separately.

This means that applicants from non-Priority Countries can only apply for PGP programs that have over 4 places available and, even in that situation, there would only be one place available for all non-Priority Country students.

Fortunately for most of you, most countries in the world are Priority Countries, but you should check from the list below.

List of Priority Countries (as of 2023)

Africa
Algeria	Angola	Benin
Botswana	Burkina Faso	Burundi
Cabo Verde	Cameroon	Central African Republic
Chad	Comoros	Cote D’Ivoire
Democratic Republic of the Congo	Djibouti	Egypt
Equatorial Guinea	Eritrea	Ethiopia
Gabon	Gambia	Ghana
Guinea	Guinea-Bissau	Kenya
Lesotho	Liberia	Libya
Madagascar	Malawi	Mali
Mauritania	Mauritius	Morocco
Mozambique	Namibia	Niger
Nigeria	Republic of the Congo	Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe	Senegal	Seychelles
Sierra Leone	Somalia	South Africa
South Sudan	Sudan	Swaziland/eSwatini
Tanzania	Togo	Tunisia
Uganda	Zambia	Zimbabwe
Americas
Argentina	Bolivia	Brazil
Canada	Chile	Columbia
Ecuador	Guyana	Paraguay
Peru	Suriname	Uruguay
USA	Venezuela
Asia
Bangladesh	Bhutan	Brunei
Cambodia	India	Indonesia
Laos	Malaysia	Maldives
Mongolia	Myanmar	Nepal
Pakistan	The Philippines	Singapore
Sri Lanka	Thailand	Vietnam
Europe
Albania	Andorra	Armenia
Austria	Azerbaijan	Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Bulgaria	Croatia
Cyprus	Czech Republic	Denmark
Estonia	Italy	Finland
France	Georgia	Germany
Greece	Hungary	Iceland
Ireland	Kazakhstan	Kosovo
Kyrgyzstan	Latvia	Liechtenstein
Lithuania	Luxemburg	Malta
Moldova	Monaco	Montenegro
The Netherlands	North Macedonia	Norway
Poland	Portugal	Romania
San Marino	Serbia	Slovakia
Slovenia	Spain	Sweden
Switzerland	Tajikistan	Turkmenistan
Ukraine	United Kingdom	Uzbekistan
Vatican City
Middle East
Afghanistan	Bahrain	Iran
Iraq	Israel	Jordan
Kuwait	Lebanon	Oman
Palestine	Qatar	Saudi Arabia
Syria	Turkey	UAE
Yemen
Oceania and Pacific Islands
Australia	Cook Islands	Fiji
Kiribati	Marshall Islands	Micronesia
Nauru	New Zealand	Niue
Palau	Papua New Guinea	Samoa
Solomon Islands	Tonga	Tuvalu
Vanuatu

There are several notable countries not on that list, including (but not limited to): China, South Korea, and significant portions of Latin America and the Caribbean. And, of course, Russia and Belarus, which were removed based on the ongoing unlawful invasion of Ukraine.

Back to top

---

MEXT Scholarship for Research Students: General Category and PGP

First, let me make one thing clear: This article only covers scholarships for graduate students (master’s degree, PhD, and professional graduate degrees, like MBA, JD, MD, etc.), also called “Research Students.” I do not cover instruction for undergraduate students.

These are the two categories for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship: General and PGP.

The application process and scholarship amount are the same for both categories, but there are a few important differences.

• Eligibility to Apply: As mentioned above, only applicants from Priority Countries (see chart above) are eligible to apply for General Category slots. For PGP programs, up to 25% of nominees for each program (not cumulative if a university has multiple PGP programs) may be from non-priority countries.
   
• Eligibility to Apply: PGP programs have limited scope. They may be limited to a certain field of study, degree level, and may even have nationality restrictions, so you have to meet all of those requirements to qualify. Of course, since fewer people qualify, the competition is much lower!
   
• Eligibility to Apply: Applicants who are living in Japan at the time of application may only apply for PGP programs, not General Category slots.
   
• Requirement to Keep Up Your Grades: For the PGP scholarship only, universities are required to report your GPA to MEXT at the end of each academic year. If your annual GPA falls below 2.30 on the MEXT Scale, you will lose your scholarship.
   
• Eligibility to Extend Your Scholarship: Different rules apply to extending PGP scholarships. See my article about How to Extend Your MEXT Scholarship for more details.

What are the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship PGP Programs?

PGP programs refer to specific degree programs that MEXT has approved to have a guaranteed number of slots available each year for three years. These programs can be very narrowly defined. For example, there might be a PGP program for Master’s Degree students from Malaysia or Thailand in Health Sciences who are studying in English. Since these programs have restrictive eligibility requirements (low number of applicants) and a pre-approved number of slots (high supply), that means that competition is much lower and it is easier to be selected for the scholarship.

What does this mean for you? PGP programs are your best chance to get a University Recommended MEXT Scholarship if you are eligible.

It’s not even close. I have seen programs in the past that had 10 scholarship places available for one PGP program each year. However, outside of that program, the university only had 5 scholarship places for all of its other graduate schools and programs. In that case, there were 11 applicants for the PGP program, with a nearly 90% success rate. Meanwhile, there were over 200 applicants for the general scholarship, with a 2.5% success rate. (Back then, there were a lot more general category places available.)

How to Find PGP Programs

PGP programs are pre-approved by MEXT to have a certain number of scholarship places available each year for a period of three years. So, for the 2023/2024 application cycle, programs approved in 2021, 2022, and 2023 are available.

You can find the PGP program information at the links below (all PDFs on MEXT’s website):

• 2021: https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20221221-mxt_kotokoku01-000019383-01.pdf
• 2022: https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20221212-mxt_kotokoku01-000026457-01.pdf
• 2023: https://www.mext.go.jp/content/20231129-mxt_kotokoku02-000032894-01.pdf

MEXT Scholarship PGP Program Eligibility

The biggest problem with the PGP program is that it might not be possible to find out in advance if you are eligible.

When universities apply to MEXT for approval for a PGP program, it needs to be very precise and focused, like the example I gave above. Unfortunately, universities will not necessarily make those eligibility criteria available. So, even if you find a PGP program from the lists above, there is a possibility that you will not be eligible. That is just a risk you have to take. If the program matches your interest, it is still better to take a chance there than at a university with no PGP program.

General Category Scholarship Slots

Unlike the limited PGP programs any university in Japan can nominate students for the General Category MEXT Scholarship and there are no restrictions on major or degree level. The only restriction is that applicants must be from Priority Countries.

Since these programs are open to all applicants, that means that the competition is going to be intense! You will need to have top grades and a focused, well-crafted Field of Study and Research Program Plan in order to have any hope of success.

MEXT Scholarship General Category Slots Available

During the 2023/2024 application cycle, the number of slots available to any university is based on the number of international students enrolled in the university’s graduate schools as of May 2022.

Number of International Graduate Students Enrolled	Number of MEXT Scholarship Slots
201+	3
11-200	2
0-10	1

Differences between the Embassy-Recommended and University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship

If you have applied for the Embassy Recommendation in the past, there are a few key differences in the scholarship that you should know. (If you haven’t you can skip down to the next section).

• You can only apply to one university. This is true even if one of your universities is a General Category university and one is PGP.
   
• You can only arrive in the fall semester–except for PGP programs that start in the spring.
   
• There is no Japanese language training semester.
   
• In most cases, the university will decide if you may start as a degree-seeking or research student. If they accept degree-seeking students in the fall, then you will start as a degree-seeking student. If they do not, then you would have to start as a research student.

Back to top

---

University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship Benefits

The scholarship benefits are unchanged from last year:

• Exemption from paying admission fees and tuition
   
• Monthly stipend:
  • Research Students*: JPY 143,000/month
  • Master’s Degree/ Professional Degree Students: JPY 144,000/month
  • PhD Students: JPY 145,000/month
  • (Undergraduate Students: JPY 117,000/month)
     
• Cost of Living Adjustment: JPY 2,000-3,000 in selected areas
   
• Round-trip economy-class flight ticket from your country of citizenship to Japan. Note: MEXT only covers the international portion of the ticket. You are responsible for all domestic travel costs in your home country and in Japan, plus the airport usage fees, taxes, fuel surcharges, etc.
  Note: If you are applying for a PGP scholarship while residing in Japan, you will not receive travel benefits to Japan, even if you return to your home country before the scholarship starts.

*Note: You cannot apply for the General Category University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship as solely as a Research Student (Non-degree Student) with no intent to earn a degree in Japan. However, you might be a Research Student for one semester after arrival in Japan if your degree program does not allow new students to start in the semester of your arrival. For PGP scholars, you will arrive in Japan for the semester that you start your program, so you would never be a Research Student.

Scholarship Period

The period of the scholarship varies based on your enrollment status at the university in Japan, as described below:

• Research Students: You cannot enroll only as a Research Student, but you may spend a maximum of three semesters as a Research Student if you arrive in the fall and your degree program does not accept new students until the spring. In most cases, you would only spend one semester in this status, but if you fail to pass the entrance exam to matriculate to the degree program, or you do not meet the language requirements to extend to the degree program, you might be in this status longer.
   
• Master’s Degree/Doctoral Degree/Professional Degree: The standard number of years required to complete your program. Usually two years for a Master’s-level degree or three years for a Doctoral-level degree. (Some doctoral degrees in medical fields have a standard length of four years, and that would be covered in those cases)
   
• For a Integrated Doctoral Degree/5-year Doctoral Degree (a Master’s + Doctorate but without a Master’s degree awarded in the middle): Two years if starting the degree from the Master’s level or three years if starting the degree from the third year of study

It is possible to apply to extend your MEXT Scholarship if you are moving up to the next degree level, for example, from Master’s degree to Doctoral Degree, but you cannot extend while remaining at the same level. In an Integrated Doctoral Degree, described above, you can extend your scholarship when proceeding from the second year to the third year of the program, since that is the same as moving from a Master’s to a Doctorate.

PGP Scholars can only extend their scholarship if their PGP program is approved for both Master’s and Doctoral degree slots and their university selects them for extension using one of its Doctoral level slots in the appropriate year.

Back to top

---

How and Where to Apply for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship

Every university in Japan sets its own application process for the MEXT Scholarship, so the only way to be sure is to check the university website, directly.

Some universities will select their MEXT scholarship candidates out of the pool of general applicants, and others will have a specific application process. Once you have selected your university, as I describe below, you will need to check their website for more information. I recommend searching google (not the university’s website) for the name of the university and “University MEXT Scholarship” to find the guidelines.

Choosing Your University: The Most Important Decision

You can only choose one university to apply to, so this decision is critical and must come very early in your application process.

I have written another article about how to search for universities in Japan with English language programs in your field of study. Finding a university that teaches your field of study in English is the first step.

Focus on Partner Universities

Keep in mind that you should select a university that has a partnership agreement with your current university, if possible. Some Japanese universities will only accept University-Recommended MEXT scholarship applications from graduates of partner universities.

Even if a university accepts applications from anyone, a partnership connection gives you an advantage, since they will recognize your university’s name, and also makes it easier for the university to accept you. MEXT encourages universities to nominate students from partner universities and requires universities to report their partnership status with applicants’ previous universities.

Another advantage of applying to a partner university is that it may be easier to learn their exact application process. As I mentioned above, not every university makes this clear or public. If there is a direct connection between your current university and the university in Japan, such as a connection between professors or between international offices, then you can use that to ask about the application.

Applying to Non-Partner Universities

You cannot control what partnerships your university has in Japan, so applying to a partner university may not be an option. That doesn’t mean that you should give up! It just means that you have to work a little harder.

If you do not have the partnership connection, it may be harder to determine which universities will accept non-partner applications. So, even though you can only apply to one university, when you are researching potential universities, I suggest you come up with a list of several that you would like to apply to and follow-up to find the application process for each one. (I will cover that below).

Follow the Application Guidelines Exactly!

The competition for this scholarship is extreme. There could be hundreds of applicants for a mere three scholarship places (or fewer). Do not expect the university to have any patience with incomplete applications, documents that do not meet their requirements, or requests for exceptions to the rules. The universities will be looking for ways to shrink the pool of applicants, so do not give them any excuse to discard your application.

I do offer coaching services to review your application to determine if it is complete and to make recommendations for corrections/fixes, but this service has a fee. If you are interested, you can find more information at the Coaching Services link at the top of this page. Be aware though, that this service is first-come, first-served, and my queue fills up quickly.

Back to top

---

University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship Eligibility Criteria

I have published a separate article that covers the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship eligibility requirements for 2024/2025.

Besides these requirements, you also need to meet any eligibility requirements established by the university you apply to, so be sure to check their website directly before submitting your application.

The requirements below are for the University Recommendation MEXT Scholarship. As I detail in my book, How to Apply for the MEXT Scholarship, there are differences between the eligibility requirements for University and Embassy Recommendation. I have published another article about the eligibility requirements for the Embassy Recommendation MEXT Scholarship.

Back to top

---

Required Application Forms and Documents

As mentioned above, the application guidelines will be different for each university, so you’ll need to check with the university where you will apply. They may have a unique process, more forms you need to complete, or even ask you to submit forms at different times during the application process.

Ultimately, though, here are the documents that you will need to submit by the end of the application. This is the list of documents that MEXT requires universities to obtain. All documents must be written in English or Japanese or be accompanied by a Japanese translation. For the certificates mentioned below or any documents from your university, etc., if they are not available in English or Japanese, then you would have to submit the original and a certified translation into Japanese. (Note: If the original is in a language other than English or Japanese, only a Japanese translation is acceptable.)

Application Form

I have a separate step-by-step guide to the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship application form. You can find my article about how to complete that form at the link above and if you join my mailing list (see the link at the bottom of this article), I will send you a sample version of the filled form for your reference.
Be sure to get the official form from the university that you are applying to!

Photo

You will need to attach a physical photo to the application form or digitally insert one into the form.

If you are attaching a physical photo, it must be on photo paper, not printer paper. You should attach it with a glue stick. Never use a stapler, since a photo with staple holes in it will be rejected and you may have to resend a new one. I also recommend including a second photo inside a protective bag or folded inside a piece of paper to protect it, just in case something happens to damage the original during transit.

The photo must:

• Have been taken within six months of your application
• Must be 4.5 cm high by 3.5 cm wide. Don’t worry if it is larger than the physical space for it on the form, just make sure it matches the required dimensions
• Must be high resolution (no visible pixelation or color distortion)
• Must show you facing forward from the chest up, with no hats or glasses. (Note: Hair coverings worn for religious reasons are acceptable)

If attaching a physical photo, write your name and nationality on the back, in case it falls off and they need to check which application to reattach it to.

Field of Study and Research Program Plan

I have a separate article about how to complete the Field of Study and Research Program Plan for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship. If you have purchased my book, How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan, the chapter about formatting your final plan is based on the embassy format, but you can still use it for the University format! Simply move the “Research Goals,” “Previous Research in the Field”, and “Existing Research” to question 2 and move the rest to question 3.

Copy of Passport or Government-Issued Identification Record

This document confirms both your citizenship and your personal identifying information, such as your legal name and birthdate.

Submit a copy of your passport, if you have one. The copy of your passport should include the outside cover and the page with your photo and identifying information. You do not need to include copies of all pages or copies of pages with visas, entry/departure stamps, etc.

Make sure your photocopy shows the whole page. The edges of the passport should be visible in the copy. That will help prove that there is no other information or invalidation outside of the copied area.

If your passport has any incorrect information (e.g. Spelling of your name), you should get that corrected officially before submitting the copy, or wait until after your MEXT scholarship to get it corrected.

If you do not have a passport yet, then alternative documents can include a Family Register or Certificate of Citizenship, etc.

Certificate of Grades from last university completed and current university

Your certificate of grades is an official document issued by your university that shows the grades or marks that you have earned in each course during your degree, as well as the credit value of those courses (if applicable) and when you completed them. If you do not have one document that shows all of these items, then you may have to submit multiple official documents (for example, one showing your grades and another showing when you took each course) to meet this requirement.

Your transcript must also include or be accompanied by an explanation of the grading system so that the university in Japan can understand the relative quality of your grades and calculate the conversion to MEXT’s 3.0 GPA system, which is a requirement for recommendation.

If you have already graduated from university and are not a student, then you would submit your certificate of grades from the university degree program that you graduated from most recently.

If you are enrolled in a university, then you must submit the certificate of grades from your current degree program and the most recent university degree you have completed, if applicable. For example, if you are enrolled in a Master’s degree, you would submit your grades from that program and your Bachelor’s degree. But if you are enrolled in a Bachelor’s degree and it is your first university degree, you need only submit the certificate of grades from that program.

If you transferred universities during your degree and have transcripts from multiple universities showing the courses and grades that count toward your current or most recent degree, you would need to submit a certificate of grades from each of the universities that you attended.

The certificate of grades must be an original document, or a copy certified as being accurate by the issuing university (if you cannot get it certified by your university, certification by a notary would also be acceptable), and it must be in English or Japanese. If your document is in another language, you would need to include the original document and a certified translation into Japanese.

Certificate of Graduation from last institution attended

A “Certificate of Graduation” is not the same thing as a diploma. (Never send your only original diploma as part of the application! You will not get it back.)

A Certificate of Graduation is any official document issued by your university that certifies that you have graduated. This could be a certified copy of your diploma, but it does not have to be. A letter from your registrar that certifies that you have graduated and shows the date of graduation (or of completing all requirements) would also be valid.

In some cases, your Certificate of Grades may show the degree you earned and the date of graduation. In that case, your Certificate of Grades could also be considered a “Certificate of Graduation.” If you submit your Certificate of Grades to cover both requirements (Certificate of Grades and Certificate of Graduation), then I recommend you also include a separate piece of paper with a brief explanation saying that your date of graduation and degree are certified as part of the Certificate of Grades to let the reviewers know to look there.

Note: In some countries, a national authority issues Certificates of Graduation instead of the university. In that case, a Certificate of Graduation issued by the national authority is acceptable.

Special Case: Certificate of Expected Graduation

What if you haven’t graduated yet? This is very common, since many applicants want to start their degrees in Japan immediately after graduating in their home countries, so they have to start their applications while they are still studying.

In that case, MEXT asks that you provide a “Certificate of Expected Graduation” that shows the date you are expected to graduate and the degree you are expected to earn.

This requirement frequently results in confusion: Universities may refuse to “certify” that a student will graduate by a specific date. After all, you haven’t completed all of your requirements and they do not want to be liable if you cannot do so. But here’s the solution:

The Certificate of Expected Graduation can be conditional! It is not a problem for your university to write that your graduation is conditional on completing your remaining classes, passing your thesis, etc. The Certificate of Expected Graduation is asking the university to certify that “it is not impossible for you to graduate” by the expected date.

If your university protests that they cannot certify your graduation, the explanation above has worked in every case that I am aware of!

Proof of outstanding academic achievement from the last institution attended

In almost all cases, you meet this requirement by submitting your certificate of grades, including an explanation of your grading system. For more on what an explanation of grading system is, please refer to the article linked in the previous sentence.

If you do not have any grades because your program does not issue them, such as a research-only degree, then your Letter of Recommendation, described below, can meet this requirement if it explicitly states that you are in the top 30% of students in your college/graduate school/university, with objective facts to back up that assertion, such as your order of merit.

While the two options above will meet the requirement for well over 99% of applicants, if you have further proof of your outstanding academic performance, you can submit those as well. Examples would be statements of order of merit, awards for top graduate in your department, etc., awards earned at conferences or competitions, or publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Letter of Recommendation from the Dean or higher at last institution attended

I have a separate article all about the MEXT Scholarship Letter of Recommendation, including what it needs to include, who can write and sign it, and how to get your Dean to sign the letter. The article includes an example letter and a template for you to use to request one!

Abstract of Thesis

If you have written or will be writing a graduation thesis or any other published work (as listed in your application form), you need to include a half-page to full-page abstract (summary) of it with your application. Do not send the entire thesis (unless your university asks for it). Nobody has time to read that.

Since you are only sending an abstract, you can write one even if you haven’t finished the thesis itself or gotten it approved. If you wrote your original thesis in a language other than English or Japanese, you can still write an abstract on your own in English. You would not need to translate it into Japanese!

If you have a graduation thesis, submit an abstract of that paper, even if it is off topic from what you plan to apply to study in Japan. This still applies if you graduated years ago and have since written and published academic papers that you consider to be better. Of course, if you have other published works, you should include abstracts of those, too.

No Graduation Thesis?

If you do not have a graduation thesis, then you should contact the university for further instructions (or look at their application guidelines from the previous year), but here are a few common alternatives:

• Abstract/summary of equivalent graduation project
• Abstract of a published paper or paper presented at a conference
• Abstract of a term paper (in the class that was closest to what you plan to study in Japan)

Proof of Linguistic Ability

You only need to submit proof of your ability in the language of instruction for your degree in Japan. That proof should meet the requirements I listed in the eligibility article linked above.

This is one of those requirements that can hurt you if you don’t prepare before the guidelines come out. It’s nearly impossible to get an official language proficiency test score on short notice, and it is impossible if that language is Japanese, since the JLPT is only offered twice per year. If you are planning ahead to apply for the University-Recommended MEXT Scholarship, make sure that you have your language proficiency test done and score report available before the application period begins. Score reports are good for two years in most cases, so you do not need to worry about preparing too early.

One way to meet the language proficiency requirements is if you completed your previous degree entirely in English or Japanese. In that case, you would need a letter from your university saying so. Otherwise, you would need official language proficiency test scores.

Other Requirements

There will probably be a certificate of health required. Many universities use the Certificate of Health format from the Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship, but not all do. I recommend that you wait until the official application guidelines are available from your university before getting this documentation, since it can be costly in some countries. However, be prepared to make a doctor’s appointment and get the certificate in time to submit it by the university’s deadline!

Universities may also have additional requirements, such as their own forms for you to complete, or additional tests and certifications, like GRE, GMAT, etc. The only way to find out for sure is to check that university’s website, so make sure that you are doing your research in advance.

Back to top

---

When will the application results be out?

Application results for the University Recommended MEXT Scholarship come in two stages: University Selection Results and Official MEXT Results.

University Selection Results

Universities must select the applicants that they are going to accept and nominate to MEXT by the dates below. That means that universities must finish their internal selection procedures, inform applicants of the results and confirm that all applicants are still willing to accept the scholarship by those dates. The results may be even earlier if the university has not yet asked you to submit all the documents above and needs to ask you to send them after the results are out.

Deadlines for universities to submit nominations to MEXT

*Based on the 2023/2024 application cycle.

• PGP Scholarships (April Start): January 16, 2024
• General Category Scholarships (September/October Start): March 4, 2024
• PGP Scholarships (September/October Start): March 4, 2024

Different universities may release their initial results at different times. Do not get discouraged if you hear that results are out at different universities, but not at yours. However, if you do not receive a notification from the university by early-March that you have been selected and nominated to MEXT for the scholarship and their final decision, then I’m afraid that means you were unsuccessful this year and you should start preparing for the next Embassy Recommended MEXT Scholarship application process, which will probably begin in April.

Caution: Results Notification

In some cases, I have seen situations where individual faculties at the university each select one candidate and then that candidate is sent forward to a university-wide screening board for final decision about the university’s nominees. If you are informed that you were selected as the faculty’s candidate and that they will then screen your application at the university level, that does not mean that you will be selected for the scholarship.

Final Selection Results

After universities select their nominees, they are sent to MEXT for final screening. MEXT claims that results will be out by the end of February for PGP applicants arriving in April or mid-June for all applicants arriving in the fall, but it is not uncommon for the results to be late. So, expect that the results will be a little later than those dates. Those are also the dates when MEXT releases the results to the universities. It may take universities another few days to communicate those results to their applicants. Again, this may take some universities longer than others, so if other applicants have heard their final results and you have not, that might be the cause.

Since universities know in advance how many nominees they can have accepted each year, usually all nominees receive the scholarship in the end, but this is not a guarantee. In 2019, due to budget problems, MEXT ended up cutting down the number of slots at the last minute, so some applicants received the shocking news that they were not accepted. Since then, however, the maximum number of slots was reduced dramatically (maximum of 3 instead of 9 like it was in 2019!), so I do not think this should be a risk in the future, but nothing is sure with MEXT.

Back to top

---

Want to Maximize Your Chance to Win the MEXT Scholarship?

I have written three books under the Mastering the MEXT Scholarship series that go into more detail than I can possibly cover in a simple blog article–even one this long! Each of these books cover different aspects of the application and should give you an advantage over most other applicants out there. They are available in ebook or print format from my online store or wherever books are sold and you can get a discount if you buy them together directly from me at the links below.

1. How to Win the MEXT Scholarship: Information about the scholarship goals, eligibility, and how to create an application strategy to increase your chances.
    
2. How to Write a Scholarship-Winning Field of Study and Research Program Plan: Everything you need to know about the most important document in the MEXT Scholarship application, from developing and testing a research question through to formatting your plan for submission.
    
3. How to Find Your Best Degree Program and Advisor for the MEXT Scholarship: How to choose the university and supervisor in Japan that is best for you, along with contact strategies and templates.
    

You could also ask your local public or university library to purchase them in print or ebook format instead, so that you can read them for free! All three books are available in the catalogs that libraries (and book stores) use to make their purchases.

Thank You, Supporters!

Thank you to my supporters on Patreon, who help keep this site running through their generous contributions. Special thanks to everyone who has been supporting this site (and its predecessor, TranSenz) for months or years!

You can support this site on Patreon for as little as $1 (or your currency of choice) per month or make a one-time donation through that site. Patreon supporters get one-on-one answers to questions, early access to articles and updates, and discounts on my coaching services/books.

If you want to show your support but Patreon is out of reach for now, please come back again after this site helps you win the scholarship, to help keep it running for future applicants!

Questions?

Let me know in the comments below!