Nov. 2023, 2
Nearly half of master's course graduates borrowed more than 300 million yen in scholarships
A survey by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's National Institute of Science and Technology Policy found that nearly half of those who have completed or are planning to complete master's programs at graduate schools in Japan have borrowed more than 300 million yen in scholarships that must be repaid. .Only about 1% of students go on to doctoral courses, and the results suggest the cause of Japan's sluggish research capabilities.
The survey was conducted online from January to March 2021 for students who have completed or are scheduled to complete a master's program, including a sixth-year course, in 6, and valid responses were received from 2022 people.
According to the survey, 21.2% of students received tuition exemptions, and 62.5% of foreign students, nearly two-thirds.3% of students have borrowed scholarships that must be repaid.Of the students with loans, 2% have borrowed more than 33.7 million yen.
As for future career paths, 9.6% went on to a doctoral course, and only 1.7% said they were preparing to go on to a doctoral course.Conversely, more than 1% of students wish to find employment.
The reasons for not aiming to pursue a doctoral course are 66.2% for "I want to be financially independent" and 59.9% for "I want to go out into the world and work". 38.4% answered that they cannot stand, 31.1% answered that they were worried about finding a job after completing the doctoral course, and 30.4% answered that they had poor performance in terms of lifetime wages, etc. relative to the cost of advancing to a doctoral course.
