Do You Have To Be Rich To Study Abroad? Here’s How A S’porean Gen Z Studies In Japan On A Budget

“One of my biggest reasons for studying abroad was wanting to explore a new environment outside Singapore. Japan felt close enough to home,” she says. 

Tuition at Kyushu University costs about 268,000 yen (S$2,238) per semester, roughly on par with other national universities. Private university fees, she notes, can be double that amount.

Thankfully, Sabrina’s undergraduate and postgraduate studies are fully funded by scholarships.

“Japan is very welcoming to international students, so when you apply for undergraduate programmes, they normally have scholarships from the university itself, or sometimes even from the government,” she says. 

She secured hers from a private foundation and is not bonded after graduation.

Classes at Kyushu University are conducted in both Japanese and English. First-year international students mostly study in English.

So what happens in Year 2 when lectures switch to Japanese?

“One of the things that’s mandatory in most of the Japanese universities is that you have to take Japanese classes. But many professors now use AI translation tools. They teach in Japanese, but the content gets instantly translated to English,” she says.