Kosen: Five More Years of Study After Junior High, at 58 Schools With 56,000 Students

Japan has “colleges of technology” (koto senmon gakko, or kosen), schools that junior high school graduates enter and that spend five years training engineers. Like high school, students enter after junior high school, but the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) describes them as “an integrated five-year institution of higher education,” and the School Education Act itself calls those who study there “students” (gakusei) rather than the “pupils” (seito) term used for high school (Article 120). According to MEXT’s preliminary School Basic Survey figures, as of May 1, 2026 there were 58 such schools nationwide, with 56,249 students.

Below is based on the School Education Act and its enforcement ordinance, the laws on the tuition support payment for high schools and equivalent institutions (e-Gov Japanese Law Search), and published materials from MEXT, the National Institute of Technology (the organization that runs the national kosen, known as Kosen-K), and the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education, as confirmed in September 2026. This article does not compare or recommend any particular school. Whether you can be admitted, and which forms of support you can receive, are decided by each individual school and by the prefecture or other body responsible for it.

A School Different From Both High School and University

Article 115 of the School Education Act defines the purpose of a kosen as “to teach specialized arts and sciences in depth, and to cultivate the abilities necessary for a vocation.” The course of study is five years, except for departments related to the merchant marine, which is five years and six months (Article 117).

As with high school, those eligible to enter are junior high school graduates and those recognized as having equivalent or higher academic ability (Article 118). Article 179 of the enforcement ordinance for the same Act applies Article 95, which sets high school entrance eligibility, to kosen as well, and this includes “a person who has completed a nine-year course of school education in a foreign country.” The relationship with Ukraine’s nine-year course is covered in our article on high school entrance exams for students from abroad.

According to Kosen-K, classes combine general-education subjects with specialized subjects across all five years; general-education subjects make up roughly 49% of the credits required for graduation, and 80% of those are taken in years one through three. MEXT explains that most kosen center on engineering-related departments such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, information engineering, materials engineering, and architecture, and that some schools also have a merchant marine department that trains ship’s officers.

From 12 Schools in 1962: A Timeline of Kosen

How Many Schools, and How Many Students

According to the preliminary figures of the fiscal 2026 School Basic Survey (as of May 1, 2026), there are 58 kosen: 51 national, 3 public, and 4 private. The number of schools is unchanged from the previous fiscal year. There are 56,249 students, 28 fewer than the previous fiscal year, of whom 13,783 (24.5%) are women. This student count includes those in advanced courses as well as the main five-year course. National kosen account for 50,743 students, or roughly 90% of the total.

MEXT’s compilation of what graduates go on to do, based on the School Basic Survey, is as follows.

After Graduation: Associate Status, Advanced Courses, and Transferring Into University

• Title: a kosen graduate may call themselves an “associate” (jungakushi) (School Education Act, Article 121)
• Transferring into university: graduates can transfer into a university (Article 122). Under Article 178 of the enforcement ordinance, the student enrolls for the years remaining after subtracting up to two years from the university’s own course length, so entering a four-year university in the third year is the basic pattern. Whether a university accepts a transfer, and what examination is required, is up to that university
• Advanced course: a further course of study a kosen may offer after the main course is completed (Article 119)

Is the Advanced Course “One Year or More,” or “Two Years”?

Article 119, paragraph 2 of the School Education Act sets the length of the advanced course as “one year or more.” MEXT and Kosen-K, meanwhile, describe the advanced course as a “two-year” course. According to Kosen-K, the advanced course was first established in 1992.

Completing the advanced course does not, by itself, grant a university bachelor’s degree. A bachelor’s degree is awarded to someone who has completed credits at an advanced course the National Institution for Academic Degrees and Quality Enhancement of Higher Education has certified as providing education equivalent in standard to a university education (a “certified advanced course”), and who has passed the institution’s examination (including a written test) (a system based on Article 6, paragraph 1 of the Degree Regulations). Applications are accepted every April and October.

International Students Often Enter From the Third Year

According to Kosen-K, most of the international students accepted by the 51 national kosen are government-sponsored students receiving a Japanese government (MEXT) scholarship, or students sent by their own government.

• Government-sponsored students: after arriving in Japan, they receive one year of preparatory education at the Tokyo Japanese Language Education Center of the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO), then transfer into the third year at a kosen
• Government-sent students: they receive preparatory education in their own country before coming to Japan, then transfer into the third year (as of September 2026, Kosen-K’s page names Malaysia and Mongolia)
• Thai government scholarship students: accepted into the first year since fiscal 2018, and, since fiscal 2021, students from Thai kosen have also been accepted into the third year

MEXT’s study encouragement grant, which can be reserved based on scores on the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU), is available at kosen only from the third year and up (our article on the EJU). Whether an individual can be admitted as an international student, and which examinations are required, differs from school to school.

Tuition and the Tuition Support Payment: Only Years 1-3 Are Eligible

The “tuition support payment for high schools and other institutions,” which goes toward high school tuition, is available at kosen only for the first through third years (Act on Payment of Tuition Support Funds for High Schools and Other Institutions, Article 2, item 4). Under Article 2 of the same Act’s enforcement order, the monthly payment ceiling is 19,550 yen for national and public kosen and 38,100 yen for private kosen.

Under the amending Act that took effect April 1, 2026 (Act No. 8 of Reiwa 8), this scheme’s income limit was removed, but eligibility for the payment now depends on nationality and status of residence, covering Japanese nationals, special permanent residents, permanent residents, and others (the amended Article 3, paragraph 1). A list of the eligible statuses of residence, and the national support available to students who fall outside eligibility, is summarized in the tuition support payment section of our article on correspondence high schools. Applications are made through the school’s establishing body (Article 4).

Fourth- and fifth-year students, and students in an advanced course specified by Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ordinance, are not covered by the tuition support payment; instead, they are eligible for the tuition reduction/exemption under the “Act on Support for Studies at Universities and Other Institutions,” the same as university and vocational school students (Article 2, paragraph 2 of that Act). This scheme too has nationality and status-of-residence requirements (Article 9, paragraph 2 of its enforcement ordinance), including criteria that the head of the school judges.

Things to Check When Considering Admission

• Entrance eligibility: what documents show that you completed a nine-year course of study at a school in a foreign country, such as Ukraine (check with the school you are applying to)
• Entrance exam: subjects tested, any accommodations for taking it in Japanese, and application timing (check with the school you are applying to)
• Cost: tuition, dormitory fees, and whether you are eligible for the tuition support payment or the tuition reduction/exemption scheme (check with the school and its prefecture)
• After graduation: whether an advanced course exists, and the school’s track record on transfers into university (check the school’s published materials)

The Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students, used for entering university, is covered in our article on the EJU; correspondence high schools are covered in our article on correspondence high schools; and vocational schools that teach practical trades are covered in our article on vocational schools. This article does not judge which school is the right fit.