Located in the south part of Japan, Kyushu might be a familiar place for people who know Japan well. I believe there are numerous people who have fallen in love with Kyushu after visiting there once.
In this article, I am going to introduce Kyushu University which locates in Fukuoka city. As a national university, Kyushu University is ranked 7th among the best universities in Japan in 2022. It is always very competitive to enter Kyushu University whether Japanese students or international students. For students that are considering applying to Kyushu University, this article will show you a brief introduction, information necessary for admission, and the acceptance rate to each school.
Contents
A brief introduction to Kyushu University
九州大学 (kyū-shū-dai-gaku) is the Japanese for Kyushu University. People call this university with its abbreviation kyūdai 九大 as well.
It can be said without fear that this university is “large” in many aspects. Kyushu University has 5 in total, which are Ito Campus, Hospital Campus, Maidashi Campus, Chikushi Campus, Ohashi Campus, and Beppu Campus. Among all the campuses, Ito Campus is one of the largest campuses in Japan. Moreover, the size of the Ito Campus itself is about the size of 425 soccer fields. Kyushu University owns a large organization. There are 12 undergraduate schools, 18 graduate schools, and numerous research centers.
In my previous article, there is an introduction to the top 10 universities in the medical field in Japan, please refer to the following link:
Studying in undergraduate school
There are both Japanese courses and English-based courses available at Kyushu University.
If you are considering applying to Kyushu University, here is the information that can help you understand the process and requirements. Still, the requirements might differ every year, here is the official page where you can find the latest admission information.
Undergraduate school admission – Japanese courses (April entry)
For international applicants who possess no Japanese nationality and permanent residency in Japan, it is possible to apply as a privately financed international student entrance program (私費外国人留学生入試), which is a special entrance for international students.
This program is a great choice that applicants can apply to all the undergraduate schools except for the School of Education (there is another admission for this school which is international entrance 国際入試).
When to apply?
From the 2019 entrance, applicants should apply with the online system provided by Kyushu University.
The link below is the schedule for the 2023 entrance, please refer to the following link for the latest information.
Since there are still some months before the formal timetable is released, let’s check the timetable for the 2022 entrance for reference, and prepare yourself ready for your application anytime!
| Admissions Timetable | Date |
|---|---|
| Application Period | November 8 –19, 2021, 5 p.m. |
| Screening – Entrance examination | February 26, 2022 |
| Screening – Interview | February 27, 2022 |
| Admission Decision Announcement | March 3, 2022 |
What to prepare?
Aside from the documents required, there are several tests and interviews that an applicant needs to prepare to apply to the program:
- Attend Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU): the subject required for each school differs. Please make sure the subject needs to take for the school you would like to apply for.
- Take one of the following tests: TOEFLiBT (including TOEFLiBT Special Home Edition ), TOEFLITP Plus for China, IELTS Academic, IELTS Indicator, and B2 First (FCE, CAE, CPE). Please make sure the exam is taken within two years before applying.
- Take the entrance examination of Kyushu University
- The interview is included in the screening process.
Of course, there are many other documents that an applicant should prepare for the application. Always make sure you are getting the latest information from the official page!
Acceptance rate
According to the data collected from the acceptance in the recent four years, we can see that only a few international students are accepted each academic year.
- The School of Medicine even accepted no student for consecutive three years from 2019 to 2021.
- The School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has the lowest number of applicants. However, most of the applicants are accepted.
- The School of Engineering has the most applicants among all the schools and has significant raise in the number of applicants in 2020, which had more than 100 applicants increased.
| Applicants | Acceptances | Acceptance Rate (approximately) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation | |||
| 2022 | 18 | 3 | 17% |
| 2021 | 22 | 4 | 18% |
| 2020 | 26 | 5 | 19% |
| 2019 | 10 | 5 | 50% |
| School of Letters | |||
| 2022 | 6 | 1 | 17% |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020 | 24 | 1 | 4% |
| 2019 | 23 | 3 | 13% |
| School of Education | |||
| 2022 | 3 | 1 | 33% |
| 2021 | 5 | 3 | 60% |
| 2020 | – | – | – |
| 2019 | – | – | – |
| School of Law | |||
| 2022 | 14 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | 18 | 2 | 11% |
| 2020 | 12 | 2 | 17% |
| 2019 | 12 | 3 | 25% |
| School of Economics | |||
| 2022 | 36 | 5 | 14% |
| 2021 | 57 | 6 | 11% |
| 2020 | 52 | 7 | 13% |
| 2019 | 45 | 6 | 13% |
| School of Science | |||
| 2022 | 21 | 3 | 14% |
| 2021 | 27 | 2 | 7% |
| 2020 | 51 | 4 | 8% |
| 2019 | 34 | 3 | 9% |
| School of Medicine | |||
| 2022 | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| 2021 | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| 2020 | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| 2019 | 14 | 0 | 0% |
| School of Dentistry | |||
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | 8 | 1 | 13% |
| 2020 | 18 | 1 | 6% |
| 2019 | 13 | 3 | 23% |
| School of Pharmaceutical Sciences | |||
| 2022 | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| 2021 | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | 100% |
| School of Engineering | |||
| 2022 | 96 | 8 | 8% |
| 2021 | 102 | 22 | 22% |
| 2020 | 185 | 23 | 12% |
| 2019 | 46 | 22 | 48% |
| School of Design | |||
| 2022 | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| 2021 | 21 | 3 | 14% |
| 2020 | 19 | 2 | 11% |
| 2019 | 23 | 4 | 17% |
| School of Agriculture | |||
| 2022 | 38 | 5 | 13% |
| 2021 | 20 | 7 | 35% |
| 2020 | 28 | 6 | 21% |
| 2019 | 24 | 7 | 29% |
Table made with data from: https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/admission/faculty/conditions
Undergraduate School admission – English-based courses (October entry)
If you are not ready to yet take courses in Japanese, this special entrance can be a good chance. In this Englis-based program, applicants can apply to the school and department list below.
- School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation
- School of Engineering (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer, Department of Science, Department of Applied Chemistry, Department of Civil Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering)
- School of Agriculture (Department of Bioresource and Bioenvironment)
Admission
For students who are interested in this program, it is important to know that there are different admission policies for each school. Please refer to the link below for the latest information on the application.
A scholarship is provided as well in the program, which is MEXT Scholarship. Once an applicant is successfully selected, a scholarship for every month for four years will be granted. In addition, another finance supports cover enrollment, tuition fees, and airline tickets are provided as well.
Acceptance rate
| Applicants | Acceptances | Acceptance Rate (approximately) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| School of Interdisciplinary Science and Innovation | |||
| 2022 | 30 | 10 | 33% |
| 2021 | 27 | 13 | 48% |
| 2020 | 34 | 9 | 26% |
| 2019 | 17 | 7 | 41% |
| School of Engineering | |||
| 2022 | 163 | 27 | 17% |
| 2021 | 127 | 30 | 24% |
| 2020 | 109 | 31 | 28% |
| 2018 | 98 | 25 | 26% |
| School of Agriculture | |||
| 2022 | 38 | 16 | 42% |
| 2021 | 30 | 14 | 47% |
| 2020 | 28 | 15 | 54% |
| 2019 | 24 | 13 | 54% |
Table made with data from: https://www.kyushu-u.ac.jp/ja/admission/faculty/conditions
Tuition and fees
For undergraduate students enrolled in Kyushu University, except for the entrance exam fee of 17,000 yen, there is a one-time admission fee of 282,000 yen. The tuition fee takes 267,900 yen every semester, which means 535,800 yen of tuition fee per year.
World ranking
According to QS World University Ranking 2022, Kyushu University is ranked 137 and scored 53.3.
As to the information provided by Times Higher Education (2022), Hitotsubashi University is ranked as the 7th best university in Japan, following Hokkaido University.
Summary
According to the number of acceptance rates above, it is not difficult to find that the acceptance rate of international students is quite low. That’s because, only a few vacancies are available for international students, and at the same time, numerous applicants are trying their best to get a ticket to enroll at Kyushu University.
If you are considering applying to Kyushu University, hope the information above that can help you understand the process and requirements. Still, the requirements might differ every year, here is the official page where you can find the latest admission information.
