Kansai University will begin accepting applications from refugees through a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees program and plans to admit one student for the 2019 academic year starting in April.
The Refugee Higher Education Program, which was launched in 2007 at Kwansei Gakuin University, has since expanded to seven other private universities in Japan. The schools pay entrance and tuition fees for the students and some universities offer additional scholarship stipends on a monthly basis. In the case of Osaka Prefecture-based Kansai University, it will offer a monthly stipend of ¥80,000.
The initiative supports individuals who have already been granted refugee or similar special status by the government and are seeking to complete a four-year undergraduate program.