Financial Aid

The program is highly competitive and admits only twenty to twenty-five students each year, out of which about seven to ten candidates are awarded the prestigious Monbukagakusho Scholarship administered by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology  (MEXT) of the Government of Japan. Another ten to fifteen outstanding candidates are awarded the ADB-JSP scholarship administered by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and JJ/WBGSP Scholarship administered by the World Bank (WB). All scholarships cover tuition and academic fees, a monthly allowance ranging from 147,000 to 148,000 Yen, and a round-trip air ticket from the awardee's home country. Some grants are also available for books and research travel within Japan. Scholarships for the doctoral course is granted for up to three years based on satisfactory performance of the student. The master's degree scholarships are granted for two years. Neither scholarships are extendable beyond three and two years, respectively. The master's degree scholarships require the awardees to return to their home countries upon the completion of study to contribute to their country's development.

【A】Monbukagakusho (MEXT) Scholarship

Application to the Japanese Government (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology: MEXT) scholarship can be made either by the following two recommendation-based methods (respective details can be obtained by clicking each):

  1. University Recommendation (for doctoral degree only)

【B】Asian Development Bank-Japan (ADB-JSP) 

  For Master's applicant only

   The applicant for this scholarship must: 

  • be a national of an ADB borrowing member and Japanese ODA scholarship eligible  which is listed in the ADB-JSP website page.

  • have acquired at least 2 years of full-time professional working experience after a university degree at the time of application.

  • be not above 35 years old at the time of application.

  • agree to return to his/her home country after the completion of studies under the program.

  • not be an Executive Director, an Alternate Director, management and staff of ADB, consultants, and close relatives of the aforementioned.

  • not be a staff of ADB-JSP designated institutions.

  • be living or working in his/her home country.

  • not be enrolled in graduate degree programs.

Further information on the scholarship can be obtained from:

https://www.adb.org/site/careers/japan-scholarship-program/main 

 【C】JJ/WBGSP Scholarship

   For Master's applicant only

    The applicant for this scholarship must: 

  • be a national of a World Bank member developing country.

  • not hold dual citizenship of a developed country.

  • be in good health

  • hold a bachelor (or equivalent) degree earned at least 3 years prior to the application deadline date.

  • have 3 years or more of recent development-related experience after earning a bachelor's  (or equivalent) degree.

  • be employed in development-related work in a paid full-time position at the time of submitting the scholarship application. The only exception to this criterion applies to the applicants from developing countries that are listed as Fragile and Conflict States during each call for the scholarship by the World Bank.

  • not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/ or staff of any type of appointment of the World Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.

There are no separate application forms for Monbukagakusho, ADB-JSP, and JJ/WBGSP scholarships. The same application forms are used for all of these programs. One set of application materials is enough to be considered for all of the scholarships.

Further information on JJ/WBGSP scholarship can be obtained from: 

World Bank Scholarships Program

The JJWBGSP application process is organized in two rounds by JJWBGSP and our university is categorized in Application Window #2. 

JJWBGSP Participating Programs — Application Window #2 (worldbank.org)

 

 【D】Other Scholarships

Besides the aforementioned scholarships, additional project specific scholarships are also available, as listed below. Refer to URL for details on the scholarships. Note that these below listed scholarships are not administrated by the university.

1   Japanese grant aid for Human Resource Development Scholarship (JDS Scholarship)

     http://jds-scholarship.org/

 

2   Master's Degree and Internship Program of African Business Education Initiative for Youth

     (ABE Initiative)

     https://www.jica.go.jp/english/countries/africa/internship.html

 

4   SDG's Global Leader (Master's and Doctoral degree)

     https://www.jica.go.jp/jica-dsp/english/cource/content/sdgs_global_leader.html

 

5   Project for supporting road asset management in developing world (RAMP)

     https://www.jica.go.jp/english/activities/issues/transport/ramp/index.html

 

Note:

Applicants are strongly discouraged from contacting the Asian Development Bank and World Bank regarding the ADB-JSP and JJ/WBGSP Scholarships, respectively. All communications regarding the scholarships should be conducted through the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Saitama University only.

Selection Criteria and Procedure

Evaluation of applications will be based on candidate's scholastic ability and research potential assessed from previous credentials, recommendation letters, and the submitted essays on specific topics. The list of candidates nominated by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering are sent to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology  (MEXT) of the Government of Japan, Asian Development Bank (ADB), and World Bank (WB) for their final approval. During the selection process, short-listed candidates may be contacted for internet-based interviews or other appropriate means of further evaluation. Details of these interviews will be sent out to only to the short-listed candidates.

Cost of Study

Students who wish to enroll without the department administered scholarships must find other financial support for his/her study at Saitama University. Following are the general expenses for a self-supported single student for the 2023-2024 academic year.

          Application Fee:     30,000 Yen

          Admission Fee:      282,000 Yen upon admission

          Tuition Fee:            535,800 Yen per year

          Living Expenses:   110,000 to 140,000 Yen per month