Tokyo private high schools: national support plus Tokyo's top-up, and which residence statuses qualify

If your child goes to a private high school and you live in Tokyo, two separate payments can reduce tuition:

• the national high-school tuition support (就学支援金, shūgaku shienkin), and
• Tokyo's own tuition reduction grant (授業料軽減助成金, jugyōryō keigen joseikin), run by the Tokyo Private School Foundation (東京都私学財団).

The foundation says Tokyo's grant tops up the national support to the average tuition of Tokyo private high schools when the student and the parent both live in Tokyo.

Fiscal 2026 amounts

Course	National cap	Tokyo cap	Together, at most
Full-time, part-time, upper-secondary specialised training	457,200 yen a year	43,800 yen a year	501,000 yen a year

For a Tokyo-authorised correspondence course the page gives the national cap only: 337,200 yen a year, or 13,668 yen per credit.

You receive what you actually paid in tuition, up to the cap. Tuition does not include facility fees or reserve funds (施設費, 積立費). If the national support already covers the whole tuition, Tokyo's grant is not paid and you do not need to apply.

You must apply for each one separately to reach the full amount. The login for the foundation's application site is not the same as the national e-Shien login.

Who qualifies

The parent (the applicant) and the student must both have lived in Tokyo continuously from 1 May 2026 until the application. There are exceptions, such as a student who moved out of Tokyo to attend school. The student must be enrolled at a private high school or another listed type of school on 1 July of the application year (or on the application day if they enrolled on or after 2 July). Schools outside Tokyo count, except correspondence courses.

The tuition grant on its own has no income limit, and you do not upload a tax certificate. The separate scholarship benefit (奨学給付金), which you can request on the same site, does have an income limit and needs a tax certificate.

Residence status matters

The student must also qualify for the national support under its new system. The page lists students living in Japan who are:

1. Japanese nationals
2. Special permanent residents (特別永住者)
3. Permanent residents (永住者)
4. Spouse or child of a Japanese national (日本人の配偶者等)
5. Spouse or child of a permanent resident (永住者の配偶者等)
6. Long-term residents (定住者) recognised as intending to stay permanently
7. Dependants (家族滞在) who graduated from a Japanese elementary and junior high school and are recognised as intending to work and settle in Japan after high school

Outside the new system are long-term residents with no intention to stay permanently, dependants who did not graduate from Japanese elementary and junior high schools or do not intend to work and settle in Japan, and students with a status such as student (留学). The page says these students may be covered by a transitional national measure (経過措置) or the new study-support grant (高校生等・新修学支援金), and links to a separate foundation page for them. The site also provides a declaration form about intention to stay or keep working (永住・就労継続意思等に関する申告書).

Fiscal 2026 schedule

• The regular application was in July. It has closed.
• Results and payment: October, December or March 2027 for schools in Tokyo; December or March 2027 for schools outside Tokyo.
• A special application for families who could not apply for an unavoidable reason is planned for early January 2027. The foundation will announce it on its site in December.

Apply every school year. A late application is not accepted, and the grant is paid once a year even if the student changes school.

Ask the foundation's tuition desk on 03-5206-7925 (weekdays 9:15–17:00) before you assume a status qualifies. This article does not decide eligibility.