100,000 International Students Study at Senmon Gakko: Admission and Post-Graduation Status of Residence

A Japanese “senmon gakko” (vocational school) is the name given, under the School Education Act, to a “senshu gakko” (specialized training college) that offers a “specialized course” for people who have finished high school. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology’s school basic survey, 569,000 people were studying at senmon gakko as of May 1, 2025. According to a Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) survey, on the same date there were 106,829 international students in the specialized courses of senshu gakko, up about 40% from the year before.

The system was revised in April 2026: those studying in a specialized course are now called “students” (gakusei) rather than “pupils” (seito), and admission requirements are now set by the same rule as for universities. What follows is based on the wording of the School Education Act and its Enforcement Regulations (e-Gov Law Search), and on published materials from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Immigration Services Agency (ISA), and JASSO, checked in September 2026. No specific school is discussed. Whether you can be admitted on your own educational background, and which status of residence you can obtain after graduation, are decided case by case by the school and the ISA.

A School That Is Neither a University Nor a “Miscellaneous School”

Article 1 of the School Education Act uses the word “school” for kindergartens, elementary schools, junior high schools, compulsory education schools, high schools, secondary education schools, special-needs schools, universities, and colleges of technology. Senshu gakko do not fall under this and are separately provided for in Article 124 of the same law.

A senshu gakko may have an upper secondary course for people who have finished junior high school, a specialized course for people who have finished high school, and a general course open regardless of educational background (Article 125), and a school offering a specialized course may call itself a “senmon gakko” (Article 126). The system was created by a legal amendment in 1975 and took effect on January 11, 1976. A notice from the Ministry of Education at the time explained that the amendment positioned, as senshu gakko, schools that had previously been lumped together with miscellaneous schools but that provided organized education of a certain scale and standard.

What Changed in April 2026

The Act to Partially Amend the School Education Act (Act No. 50 of Reiwa 6 [2024]) took effect on April 1, 2026. According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, this amendment repositions the specialized course as a higher-education institution providing vocational education, and its main points are as follows.

• Those studying in a specialized course are now called “students” (gakusei) instead of “pupils” (seito).
• Admission requirements have been tightened: the range of people recognized as having academic ability equivalent to or higher than a high-school graduate is now determined by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Article 125, paragraph 3).
• A specialized course with a program length of 2 years or more requiring 62 or more credit units for completion is now designated a “specified specialized course” (Article 125-2, Enforcement Regulations Article 186), and a person who completes it may call themselves a “senmonshi” (specialist, Article 131-2). They may also transfer into a university (Article 132).
• A school with a specified specialized course may set up an “advanced course” (senkoka) of 1 year or more (Article 125-2).
• The requirement for completion has changed from class hours to credit units (for those entering from April 2026 onward).

A person who completes a specialized course or advanced course meeting standards such as a program length of 4 years or more and who has been designated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology may call themselves a “koto senmonshi” (advanced specialist, Enforcement Regulations Article 186-3), and is also recognized as eligible to enter graduate school (Enforcement Regulations Article 155, paragraph 1, item 5).

Admission: for Someone Who Has Finished 11 Years of School in Ukraine

The specialized course admits people who have graduated from high school, or who are recognized, as determined by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, as having equivalent or higher academic ability (Article 125, paragraph 3). Enforcement Regulations Article 183 defines this “equivalent or higher” as a person who has completed 12 years of school education, or a person who falls under one of the items of Article 150 (which sets university admission eligibility). In other words, for those entering from April 2026 onward, a foreign educational background is judged by the same standard as for a university (those who entered before then remain under the pre-amendment rule).

Article 150, item 1 covers “a person who has completed a 12-year course of school education overseas, or a person designated by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as equivalent to such a person.” The Ministry includes on this list of designations Ukraine’s complete general secondary education (11 years) course. Its content, and the name of the document showing completion, are covered in “How Ukrainian Diplomas, Degrees, and Medical Licenses Are Treated in Japan.” The final decision on whether you can apply rests with the school you apply to.

Japanese Required When Entering on the Status of Residence “Student”

A person entering a senshu gakko on the status of residence “Student” (ryugaku) must meet one of the following Japanese-language requirements set by the ISA (except when studying only Japanese).

• Studied Japanese for 1 year or more in a program for international students at a notified or accredited Japanese-language institution
• Proved their Japanese ability through a test: passing N1 or N2 of the JLPT, scoring 200 points or more in Japanese on the EJU, scoring 400 points or more on the BJT Business Japanese Proficiency Test, or scoring 525 points or more on the JPT Japanese Proficiency Test
• Received 1 year or more of education at a Japanese school (a School Education Act Article 1 school, excluding kindergarten)

The ISA states that even for a person meeting condition 1 or 3, if it is clear they do not have Japanese ability equivalent to at least JLPT N2, the examination may find that they lack the ability to carry out their intended activity. How to take the JLPT is covered in the article on the JLPT. How the status of residence is handled for a person who evacuated from Ukraine and is studying at a senmon gakko on a different status of residence should be confirmed with the ISA.

Working in Japan After Graduation: “Relevance Between Your Major and Your Job”

The status of residence most often used by international students taking up work in Japan after graduation is “Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services.” According to the ISA’s guidelines (last revised April 2026), the relevance between a university graduate’s major and their job is judged “flexibly,” whereas, because a senshu gakko exists to develop the abilities needed for a vocation, its graduates are in principle required to show “a considerable degree of relevance.” To obtain this status of residence, a senshu-gakko graduate must, among other conditions, be able to call themselves a senmonshi or koto senmonshi.

However, the guidelines also state that even for a specialized-course graduate whose coursework cannot be said to have directly majored in the related subject, relevance may be judged from the content of their studies as a whole, and that once someone has spent roughly 3 years in a job where relevance was recognized, relevance to their next job is judged flexibly.

The February 2024 Review and the “Career Formation Promotion Program”

To narrow this gap, in June 2023 the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology began accrediting a “Program for Promoting Career Formation of International Students.” It applies to departments that had already received accreditation, by the previous fiscal year, as a “specialized course with practical vocational education” run jointly with industry, and requires, among other conditions, that international students make up no more than half of enrollment (if the proportion exceeds that, an average employment rate of 90% or more and 300 hours or more of classes on understanding Japanese society are required instead). The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology grants accreditation after consulting with the ISA and the prefecture.

On February 29, 2024, the ISA revised its guidelines and also amended the Ministry of Justice notification concerning the status of residence “Designated Activities.” As a result, for a person who completes an accredited department, the relevance between their major and their job is now judged flexibly, in the same way as for a university graduate. Also, a person who completes an accredited department and can call themselves a koto senmonshi now qualifies for the status of residence “Designated Activities (Notification No. 46),” which had previously been limited to university graduates and those who completed graduate school.

The number of accredited departments was 188 schools and 475 departments in the first year, 2023 (as of March 29, 2024), and 55 schools and 118 new departments in fiscal 2025 (as of March 31, 2026); the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology publishes the list of departments. The Ministry states that this treatment applies only to a person who enrolled in, and completed, the department from the fiscal year after the one in which that department received accreditation for its practical vocational education course. It is safest to confirm with the school when a given department was accredited before you enroll.

Tuition, and Which Statuses of Residence Qualify for National Support

Tuition varies greatly by school and field. As a benchmark, the upper limit the national “New System for Supporting Students Pursuing Higher Education” sets for reducing tuition and admission fees is, for a private senmon gakko (daytime course), 590,000 yen a year in tuition and 160,000 yen in admission fees; for a national or public one, 166,800 yen a year in tuition and 70,000 yen in admission fees (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology). Under this system, schools that meet nationally confirmed requirements reduce tuition and other fees for people who meet conditions such as household income, combined with a non-repayable grant-type scholarship.

According to JASSO, foreign nationals eligible to apply for the grant-type scholarship are limited to special permanent residents provided for by law, people with the status of residence “Permanent Resident,” “Spouse or Child of Japanese National,” or “Spouse or Child of Permanent Resident,” people with “Long-Term Resident” status who intend to settle permanently, and people with “Dependent” status who meet certain conditions; the status of residence “Student” (ryugaku) is not included. The procedure for a person recognized as eligible for complementary protection to change to “Long-Term Resident” status is covered in “Status of Residence Procedures for People Who Evacuated.” Scholarships for international students are covered in “Scholarships in Japan Available to Ukrainian Students and Researchers.”

Where to Ask

• Admission requirements, tuition, and program accreditation (practical vocational education course, Career Formation Promotion Program): the school you are applying to
• Status of residence (studying, employment after graduation): the Immigration Services Agency. For a place to consult with an interpreter available, see “Where to Ask First When You Start Living in Japan.”
• Tuition reduction and grant-type scholarships: the school you are enrolled at or plan to enter, and JASSO