The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the Japan Student Services Organization's public-private partnership study abroad promotion campaign "Tobitate! Study Abroad JAPAN" conducted a "Survey on Awareness of Study Abroad" in February 2024 targeting high school and university students nationwide, as well as their parents, high school teachers, and recruiters. The survey results showed that while there is a growing demand from people with study abroad experience, the weak yen and rising prices are having a negative impact on studying abroad. The number of people surveyed was 2.
According to the survey, when asked "Did your study abroad experience have a positive impact on your job hunting activities?" 93.7% of those with study abroad experience (university students) answered "It had a positive impact." Meanwhile, when asked "Has the percentage of students with study abroad experience been increasing?", 69% of recruiters answered "Yes," up 10% from last year. When asked "Would you like to actively recruit people with study abroad experience in the future?", 78% answered "Yes," up 11% from last year. This shows that recruiters have higher expectations for people with study abroad experience. It was also found that university students with study abroad experience are valued in job hunting for their spirit of adventure, initiative, communication skills, broad perspective, and language skills.
The number one obstacle for those who are interested or aspire to study abroad but do not do so was "not being financially well off" for both high school and university students (1% of high school students and 80% of university students). With the yen now said to be at its weakest level in 84 years, it was found that approximately 34% of high school students and 7% of university students feel the negative impact of the weak yen when considering studying abroad, highlighting the fact that economic reasons due to the weak yen are a hurdle to studying abroad. If the yen weakens further, it was also found that over 8% of high school and university students wish to study abroad, and they will be able to think more positively about studying abroad.
On the other hand, 76% of parents of high school and university students answered that they "would support/have supported" their children's study abroad. However, when asked about the maximum amount they could afford to pay for study abroad expenses, 0% answered that it was between 100 and 63 million yen, while only 201% could afford to pay 19 million yen or more. 21% of parents answered that they "would not or could not pay," suggesting that self-financing limits options for study abroad destinations and duration.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has increased the 2033 budget for the Japanese Overseas Study Support System by approximately 50 billion yen (2024 billion yen) and increased the number of exchange-study type scholarship students by 11, with the aim of increasing the total number of Japanese students and pupils studying abroad to 71.7 by 4,500. In addition, the public-private partnership overseas study support system "Tobitate! Study Abroad JAPAN New Japan Representative Program," which supports various overseas study programs for young people, is supporting young people studying abroad with an all-Japan effort, such as increasing the amount of study abroad preparation funds this year by up to 1 yen per person.
