The MEXT University Recommendation Scholarship is a comprehensive “full-ride” scholarship sponsored by the government of Japan. Application Guidelines and Forms for MEXT University Recommendation Scholarship-based admissions procedures for Sep 2022 enrollment are now online!
The following explains procedures for students who wish to seek admission to Ritsumeikan University accompanied by a university recommendation to MEXT for scholarship.
1. Scholarship Eligibility Requirements and Scholarship Benefits
To be eligible to apply for Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship, an applicant must:
- Have the nationality of a country that has diplomatic relations with the Japanese government. Applicants who have Japanese nationality are not eligible (Japanese dual-nationality citizens who plan on renouncing their Japanese citizenship, however, may apply).
- Have been born on or after April 2, 1987.
- Be in both good physical and mental health.
- Be willing to newly acquire a student visa and newly enter Japan for the purpose of study upon receipt of the scholarship.
- Be able to arrive in Japan on a date designated by Ritsumeikan University in the middle of September 2022.
- Have a CGPA equal to or higher than 2.30 out of 3.00 for current degree program as calculated by MEXT’s formula (or most recently attended degree program for persons not currently enrolled).
- For applicants to English language medium degree programs: Have English language ability equal to or greater than Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) B2 level. See CEFR Conversion Chart and MEXT Language Requirements for details.
Additional Requirements, Criteria, and Scholarship Benefits: Please refer to the scholarship outline for a description of scholarship benefits as well as a more detailed overview of scholarship eligibility and conditions.
2. Application
- At Ritsumeikan University, applicants may apply for enrollment to the Master’s and/or Doctoral degree programs of certain select graduate schools via the application procedures described below. Applicants granted admission to the university via these specific procedures will also be granted a university recommendation for MEXT scholarship.
- Understand that the graduate schools listed in the application guidelines are recruiting applicants for admission for either their Master’s or Doctoral degree programs (or both) as indicated in the application guidelines, only. Graduate schools and/or degree programs NOT listed in the guidelines are NOT being recruited for.
Application Procedures and Forms
- All prospective applicants must download the Application Guidelines and Application Form PDF for the graduate school they wish to apply to, as well as the separate “Field of Study and Research Plan” template (WORD), from the links below. Number three below, the “Letter of Reference Template”, is an optional template which you may choose to use when requesting your Dean, etc… to write you your Letter of Reference (to be clear, submission of a Letter of Reference is mandatory and there is no set format for the letter, however, using this optional template should ensure that the submitted letter meets the minimum requirements for acceptance).
1.1 Graduate School of Information Science and Engineering (GSISE) Application Guidelines and Application Form
Application Period: Dec 7 – Dec 21, 20211.2 Graduate School of Policy Science (GSPS) Application Guidelines and Application Form
Application Period: Dec 7 – Jan 11, 2022
1.3 Graduate School of Economics (GSE) Application Guidelines and Application Form
Application Period: Dec 9 – Jan 11, 2022
2.Field of Study and Research Plan [Submission of a research plan using this format is required for all applicants]
3.Letter of Reference Template (The mandatory Letter of Reference is free-format. Use of this template is optional)
- For more information about MEXT, please visit their home page: http://www.mext.go.jp/en/
- For more information about graduate programs they offer in English and Japanese, please see their admissions page: http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/admissions/
- If you wish to apply for a Japanese-taught program, please be sure to view their Japanese application guidelines and forms, follow the directions on that page, and complete your forms in Japanese, where appropriate.
- If you have questions about the application process, please contact the International Center: cger-bkc@st.ritsumei.ac.jp
