High-school tuition support has to be applied for, and non-Japanese students file on paper
高等学校等就学支援金の申請
- Applies to
- All of Japan
- Source last checked
- , Open the Japanese source
- Official source
- 申請手続き書類【新入生など初めて申請する生徒の例】（文部科学省）
Japan's high-school tuition support (高等学校等就学支援金, kōtō gakkōtō shūgaku shienkin) is not paid unless someone applies. The Ministry of Education's packet for a student applying for the first time says the support does not have to be repaid, and that from fiscal 2026 (令和8年度) the group of students it can cover became wider.
After you apply, the packet says you need an address in Japan, and the nationality and residence-status requirements have to be accepted, before you are qualified. It does not, on the pages used here, list every residence status. Follow the school's list of documents rather than guessing a status.
How to file
The school tells you the route.
- Online, on e-Shien (https://www.e-shien.mext.go.jp/), using the login notice the school gives you. If the school or the prefecture gives different instructions, follow those.
- On paper, the qualification form plus the student's documents, handed to the school.
The packet says students who are not Japanese nationals apply on paper. It says Japanese-national students may be able to use the online system, depending on the school.
Some schools collect tuition until the support is decided, then refund the supported amount. The packet says a family in financial difficulty may be able to ask the school to wait before collecting tuition. Ask the school. The same packet says the separate new study-support grant (高校生等・新修学支援金) is a different application.
Verify the year's forms with the school office. This article does not say a particular household will qualify.
Your child's dates, not the general ones
Add your child and ward. The timeline does the rest.