Don't miss this Study in Japan scholarship opportunity for IGCSE students in 2024

Japan is a major destination for higher education in the world, with about 140,000 students enrolling in programs every year.

While most of the opportunities you might see are for students pursuing a bachelor's degree and above, we found a program accepting international students with a scholarship option!

Enter - Hiroshima Global Academy or HIGA (Pronounced - Hi Ga) - a publicly funded 3-year international boarding school located on the island of Osakikamijima in the scenic Seto Inland Sea region in Hiroshima prefecture.

HIGA is accredited as an IB World School where students participate in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP).

So, this might be a great opportunity if you are taking the IGCSE examinations this year in the Feb/March or May/June series, as you will soon see with the eligibility criteria and application deadlines below.

Eligibility Criteria for Hiroshima Global Academy

The admissions process for 2024 page on HIGA's website outlines the following as the eligibility criteria:

Most people reading this article would fall under category number (1), being born between April 2nd, 2007, and December 31st, 2009, which equates to being 17 to 19 years old, respectively.

If you happen to be younger or older than the above age range, please contact HIGA's admissions team at higa2022@higanet.higa.ed.jp to discuss your individual case.

In addition, here is a recording of an information session that took place on Zoom on January 27th, 2024. You will get a chance to learn more about the program, the school, and hear student perspectives which can help you make an informed decision on whether or not this is something for you.

Upcoming Application Deadlines

The applications are open for the 2024 academic year at the time of writing this post, and it is likely that by the time you are reading this post, you might have missed the deadline. But don't worry, subscribe to IGCSE Pro for free to get the latest updates!

Here are some key dates to track:

• Application registration - April 2 - April 16, 2024
• Submission of application documents - April 2 - April 23, 2024
• Online Interviews - May 1, 2024
• Notification of successful applicants - May 7, 2024
• Enrollment - September 2024.

Imagine, if you applied during this application round, in one month, you could know whether or not you are going to Japan for High School!

Scholarships to Study at Hiroshima Global Academy

Cost can be a significant barrier for some students, and we get it. Money does not grow on trees! So, is there a scholarship that is available for IGCSE students to help pay the bills?

Yes and no (please don't hate us for saying that! We're just trying to help!)

Yes, there might be an opportunity. If you carefully look at HIGA's website, you will learn that the school receives public funding from Japan's Ministry of Education (MEXT). This explains why the tuition fees are already very reasonable compared to other international schools in Japan that are not publicly funded. Even so, if you need additional financial assistance, there is a line on HIGA's website that says 'If a student’s parents/guardians live outside of Japan, they can receive free tuition.' So, while the exact details of the scholarship are not laid out, the answer is an email away!

Also, fun fact- in March 2023, one of our team members here at IGCSE Pro actually went and visited Osakikamijima, the island where Hiroshima Global Academy is located! Here are some of the photos that they shared from the island.

During the visit to Osakikamijima, our team member met with an international student enrolled in the IBDP program at HIGA. The student was from India and was really satisfied with the high quality of courses and teachers at the school as well as the quality of life in Japan. He also mentioned that he was fortunate to receive a scholarship, which helped him to come and study in Japan.

So, when we said earlier that there might be scholarship opportunities at HIGA, this is what we were referring to: their official website and word of mouth from an actual international student who is enrolled in the program.

But, let's be honest, things change from year to year, especially scholarship opportunities, which is why we encourage you to contact the admissions team at HIGA if you are interested in applying and inquiring about the scholarship or financial aid opportunities.

Wrapping things up

Japan is a beautiful country, and there are literally a billion reasons why we think you should move there; this is an opportunity worth considering since the school is relatively not popular, which means that you will have higher chances of getting accepted into the program!

Since we are on the topic of Japan, we also want to mention that there is another international school in Japan where one can enroll in the IBDP program, which actually also provides scholarships. We discussed the overarching program in this post on IGCSE Pro, so if you have not checked it out yet, we encourage you to do so!

We hope you liked this article, and if it helped you in any way, we encourage you to subscribe to IGCSE Pro for free so you don't miss out on any scholarship opportunities that can be posted on this page in the future.

Until then, またね！