The cost to attend a private university in the Tokyo metropolitan area rose to record levels in 2025, with many students forced to take on various part-time jobs, according to a survey released Tuesday by a Tokyo-based federation of university staff unions.
The annual survey, conducted between May and July 2025 by the Tokyo Federation of Private University Faculty and Staff Unions, gathered 3,613 responses from parents of first-year students at 10 private universities and junior colleges across Tokyo, Saitama and Tochigi prefectures.
Average expenses from entrance examinations through the first month of enrollment reached ?2,353,983 for students living away from home, up ?39,202 from the previous year, while costs for students commuting from home climbed to ?1,647,883, up ?30,902. Both figures marked new highs since the survey began in 1983.
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