🎓 High School Tuition — No Income Cap

❓ What is changing?

The High School Enrollment Support Fund, which subsidizes tuition, is greatly expanded from April 2026. Households earning about ¥9.1 million or more were previously excluded, but this income cap is abolished so every income bracket can receive support. Public high school tuition — ¥118,800/year (¥9,900/month) — becomes effectively free, and the cap for private high schools rises sharply from ¥118,800 to ¥457,200/year (¥38,100/month). MEXT expects about 800,000 more students to qualify. However, foreign students must meet residence-status requirements, so not everyone qualifies automatically.

👥 Who is eligible?

• ●Students enrolled in Japanese high schools, technical colleges (yrs 1-3) or vocational high-school courses
• ●Households earning about ¥9.1 million or more that were previously excluded by the income cap
• ●Foreign students with permanent-resident, special-permanent-resident, spouse-of-Japanese-national, spouse-of-permanent-resident, or long-term-resident (intending to settle) status
• ●Dependent (家族滞在) status only if they finished Japanese elementary and middle school and are recognized as intending to work and settle in Japan after high school
• ●Students on Student (留学) status are not eligible

🌏 Impact on foreign residents

For foreign families sending children to high school in Japan, this greatly reduces household costs. But the support is not for anyone regardless of nationality — it depends on the student meeting residence-status rules. Permanent residents, long-term residents and spouses of Japanese nationals qualify, while Student (留学) status does not, and Dependent (家族滞在) status requires finishing Japanese elementary/middle school plus intent to settle. It is not paid automatically: apply through the school at enrollment and each spring, so meet the deadlines.