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Admission of international students

Section 1: Admission of international students

Osaka City University admits both international students on a Japanese Government Scholarship (Monbukagakusho - Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology [MEXT]) and privately financed international students. Please note that application procedures differ accordingly.

Because lectures at Osaka City University are primarily delivered in the national language, students wishing to enroll at the university are required to be reasonably proficient in spoken and written Japanese.

International Students on Japanese Government Scholarship (faculty level)

If, after graduating from a high school in your home country, you wish to enroll in a faculty of the university as a student on a Japanese Government Scholarship, you will need to apply for admission to the “MEXT Scholarship Program (for faculty students)” offered by Japanese Embassies and Consulates General. If you pass the preliminary screening by the embassy or consulate, you will be required to attend a one-year Japanese language course at a designated facility in Japan, after which you will screened by the university in which you wish to enroll. If selected, you can enroll in the university as a faculty student.

International Students on a Japanese Government Scholarship (graduate school level)

Embassy Recommendation

Japanese Embassies or Consulates General invite applications and conduct the preliminary screening (review of submitted documents, written examination and interview). Following this process, MEXT confers with the selection committee and the university in which you wish to enroll, and then selects the government scholarship recipients.

Because the academic year begins in either April or October, those who wish to study in Japan are advised to contact the nearest Japanese embassy or consulate general for details in around March, 12months before you wish to begin studying.

*Informal consent for admission
In order to obtain informal consent after passing the preliminary screening, you are required to select an advisor in the graduate school from whom you want to receive research guidance and then ask your chosen advisor whether or not you can be accepted by sending him/her a letter, fax or e-mail. Please contact your chosen advisor beforehand to consult about the field of study and the study plan. You can either make direct contact or send an e-mail to the clerk’s office of the faculty or graduate school to which the advisor belongs. (Inquiries should be made in Japanese.)

University Recommendation

Osaka City University admits international students from overseas universities that have student exchange agreements with Osaka City University or research institutes that have exchanged people through joint research with Osaka City University. The university recommends candidates to MEXT. MEXT will decide the government scholarship recipients in consultation with the selection committee. Applications are invited for each graduate course in around January each year and recipients are decided around June. For details, please contact the relevant faculty clerk’s office by e-mail. (Inquiries should be made in Japanese.)

Supplement

Acceptees admitted under both Embassy Recommendation and University Recommendation procedures start out as research students and conduct research activities for six months to one year before taking the entrance examination for a master’s or doctoral course.

Note:

Applicants are h2ly advised to include the name of your chosen advisor and the field of study in a letter, fax or e-mail when making inquiries. Many applicants only write “I wish to study at Osaka City University” in their initial communications. We regret that inquiries worded in this way cannot be answered.

Privately financed international students (faculty level)

The faculties of Business, Economics, Law, Literature, Science, Engineering and Human Life Science in the first section accept applications for enrollment. Each faculty admits only a small number of students. (In some cases, no one is admitted if examination results do not attain the requisite level.)

Before taking the Osaka City University entrance examination, those who wish to enroll at the university are required to take the “Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students” implemented by the Japan Student Services Organization, an independent administrative agency,.

The selection guidelines are distributed around July each year and application guidelines are distributed around November each year.

Qualifications for application

Applicants are required to meet the following criteria 1. through 3. below.

  1. A person who does not have Japanese nationality.
  2. A person who satisfies one of the following items:
    1. A person who has completed or is expected to complete 12 years of school education overseas, or who has equivalent academic ability and has been designated by the MEXT.
    2. A person who is recognized by Osaka City University as having academic ability equivalent to the above-mentioned level.
  3. A person who takes either the 1st Session (implemented in June) or 2nd Session

(implemented on November) of the Examination for Japanese University Admission Supports for International Students (hereinafter “EJU”) implemented by the Japan Student Services Organization (all subjects designated by each faculty must be taken) and achieves or exceeds the passing scores specified by the faculty concerned, as follows:

Faculty of Business
EJU score for Japanese as a Foreign Language: 220 points or more
Aggregate EJU scores for Japan & the World and Mathematics or Combined EJU scores for Science and Mathematics: 270 points or more

Faculty of Economics
No restriction for application based on EJU score.

Faculty of Law
Aggregate EJU scores for Japanese as a Foreign Language, Japan & the World and Mathematics (Course I): 560 points or more

Faculty of Literature
EJU score for Japanese as a Foreign Language: 200 points or more, Written Japanese score: 4 points or more
Aggregate EJU scores for Japan & the World and Mathematics (Course I): 240 points or more

Faculty of Science
EJU score for Japanese as a Foreign Language: 200 points or more
Aggregate EJU scores for Science and Mathematics (Course II): 240 points or more
(*Examination subjects differ from course to course.)

Faculty of Engineering
EJU score for Japanese as a Foreign Language: 200 points or more
Aggregate EJU scores for Science and Mathematics (Course II): 240 points or more

Faculty of Human Life Science
EJU score for Japanese as a Foreign Language: 200 points or more
Aggregate EJU scores for Science and Japan & the World, or Aggregate EJU scores for Science and Mathematics (Course I or Course II): 240 points or more
(*Examination subjects differ from course to course.)

Note:
“EJU score” means a score recorded on the score report mailed by the Japan Student Services Organization. The score range for each examination subject is as follows:
Japanese as a Foreign Language (0 to 400 points, Written Japanese: 0 to 6 points), Science (0 to 200 points), Japan & the World (0 to 200 points), Mathematics (0 to 200 points)

Privately financed international students (graduate school level)

Those who wish to enroll at the university are required to take the entrance examination for each graduate course.

Acceptees usually start out as research students and conduct research activities to either prepare for or take the entrance examination. Students must have not only academic ability but also the necessary financial resources to cover the expenses of staying in Japan as a research student until admission is granted. Some students have been obliged to return to their countries after failing to pass the entrance examination.

For inquiries about the schedule of entrance examinations for graduate schools, please contact Admissions Office, Student Support Department. (Inquiries should be made in Japanese.)

Research students

Research students are accepted by graduate schools only. Procedures and application requirements differ from course to course. Some courses have their own entrance examinations which must be taken by applicants. Because the desired field of research must be nominated when filing an application, applicants are advised to contact their chosen advisors in advance to consult about the field of study.
The research period is less than one year, but can be extended.

For more details, please e-mail the clerk’s office for the graduate course in which you wish to enroll. (Inquiries should be made in Japanese.)

Note:

Applicants are h2ly advised to include the name of the chosen advisor and the field of study in a letter, fax or e-mail when making inquiries. Many applicants only write “I wish to study at Osaka City University” in their communications. We regret that any inquiries worded in this way cannot be answered.

Section 2: Requests for information materials and Inquiries

Requests for information materials

Information materials can be mailed to either domestic or overseas postal addresses. Please follow the procedures described below:

  1. On the front of the envelope, please write or type in red ink the name of the information material you wish to receive. On the back of the envelope, please write the sender’s full name, postal address, Zip/post code and telephone number.
  2. Please enclose a stamped return envelope (24.0 x 33.2 cm) bearing the recipient’s full name, address and Zip/post code of the receiver. (If a copy of the Application Guidelines is to be mailed to a domestic address in Japan, a 390-yen stamp is required for return postage).
    *If a copy of the Application Guidelines is to be mailed to an overseas address, please enclose the appropriate number of international reply coupons instead of affixing return postage stamps,. You can check postal charges by country and region at the website of JAPAN POST SERVICE.
  3. Please write to the following address.
    Admissions Office
    Student Support Department
    Osaka City University
    3-3-138 Sugimoto
    Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558-8585
    Japan
    Telephone: +81-6-6605-2141

Inquiries about entrance examinations

For inquiries regarding entrance examinations, such as application requirements, please e-mail the following information to Admissions Office, Student Support Department. Please show the subject as “Inquiry about entrance examination (Faculty/Graduate School).”

  1. Name in full
  2. Date of birth and Current Age
  3. Faculty and graduate course in which you wish to enroll
  4. Doctor’s course in the first semester/Doctor’s course in the second semester (Please indicate the applicable course.)
  5. General student/International student/Student with full-time job (Please indicate the applicable designation.)
  6. Academic background (Please describe in detail.)