University of Tsukuba
筑波大学
Japan's first new-concept national university, set in Tsukuba Science City, with English-taught bachelor's degrees.
- Students
- 16,684
- 9,573 undergraduates
- International
- 12%
- of students
- Tuition
- ¥608.8K
- 2027-28
- Founded
- 1973
About Tsukuba
The University of Tsukuba was established in October 1973 when its predecessor, the Tokyo University of Education, relocated to Tsukuba as Japan's first new-concept comprehensive university. Its lineage goes back to Japan's first normal school, founded in 1872. It covers humanities, science, medicine, sport and art, counts three Nobel laureates (Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Leo Esaki and Hideki Shirakawa) and has produced many Olympians.
Tsukuba is organised differently from most Japanese universities: students belong to schools and colleges (10 schools, 23 colleges), while faculty belong to separate research institutes and teach across programmes. In May 2025 it had 9,573 undergraduates and 7,111 graduate students, and 2,341 international students from 114 countries and regions. The main campus covers about 258 hectares in the centre of Tsukuba Science City, 45 minutes from Tokyo by the Tsukuba Express.
International applicants have two main routes. The English-taught programmes (International Social Studies, the Life and Environmental Sciences programme covering biology, agro-bio resources and geoscience, Global Issues and Interdisciplinary Engineering) start in September or October and need no Japanese. The Japanese-taught route admits students in April through the Entrance Examination for Foreign School Students, using EJU and JLPT scores. Tsukuba suits independent, research-minded students who want a green, spacious campus surrounded by national labs.
IMAGINE THE FUTURE.
University motto
Why students choose Tsukuba
Seven courses in five programmes are taught fully in English, and Japanese level does not affect admission to them.
Three Nobel laureates in physics and chemistry are associated with Tsukuba and its predecessor.
The School of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences has produced Olympic champions such as judoka Takanori Nagase.
Tsukuba has 383 partner institutions and 14 overseas offices in 12 countries and regions.
Admissions
2027 entry: April 2027 (Japanese-taught) and September/October 2027 (English-taught programmes)
Selectivity
Tsukuba does not publish an acceptance rate for international applicants. Places are very limited: for 2027 the English-taught programmes list, for example, 4 places each in Social Sciences and International Studies, 5 in Biological Sciences, 6 in Agro-Biological Resource Sciences and 13 in Interdisciplinary Engineering, with selection by document screening and interview.
Typical entry requirements
| English-taught programmes | Eligibility set in each programme's application guidelines on the Undergraduate Admissions website; selection by application documents and an interview |
|---|---|
| Foreign school curriculum (Type 1) | Eight or more years in a foreign-curriculum school, or IB, Abitur, Baccalauréat, GCE A Level, International A Level or European Baccalaureate obtained abroad, plus Japanese university entrance eligibility by 31 March 2027 |
| EJU and JLPT (Japanese-taught route) | EJU subjects set by each college (e.g. Japanese plus Course 2 Mathematics and two sciences for Biology); JLPT N2 or above for Humanities and Comparative Culture |
| English language | For the Japanese-taught Foreign School Students route, some colleges set English minimums, e.g. TOEFL iBT 69, TOEIC 650 or IELTS 5.5 for Humanities and Comparative Culture, and TOEFL iBT 61 or IELTS 5.0 for Biology. Three years of English-medium high school study counts as meeting the requirement. English-taught programmes set their own requirements in their application guidelines. |
Deadlines
- Foreign School Students exam, October application (April 2027 entry) Non-binding Passed1 October 2026, 9:00 JST (online registration); documents must arrive by 8 October 2026
Online registration 11 September to 1 October 2026 (9:00 JST); application documents by post 2 to 8 October 2026 (must arrive); exam 26 and 27 November 2026; results 10 December 2026, 10:00; enrolment procedures 10 to 14 December 2026.
- Foreign School Students exam, January application (April 2027 entry) Non-binding Next deadline · In ~3 months12 January 2027, 9:00 JST (online registration); documents must arrive by 19 January 2027
Online registration 4 to 12 January 2027 (9:00 JST); documents by post 13 to 19 January 2027 (must arrive); exam 25 February 2027; results 9 March 2027, 10:00. Only some colleges recruit in January.
- Bachelor's Program in Interdisciplinary Engineering (September 2027 entry) Non-bindingEarly November 2026
Application early October to early November 2026; oral exam late February to early March 2027; results late March 2027. Tsukuba announced that the 2027 guidelines were delayed from late July.
- International Social Studies / Life and Environmental Sciences programmes (autumn 2027 entry) Non-bindingMid-November 2026
Application late October to mid-November 2026; document screening then online interview; results late March 2027.
- Bachelor's Program in Global Issues (October 2027 entry) Non-bindingNovember to December 2026 (TBA)
Application review and oral exam in late February to early March 2027; results March 2027. Details on bpgi.tsukuba.ac.jp.
The two Foreign School Students rounds use the exact dates in the 2027 application guidelines (published June 2026). The English-taught programme windows are the approximate ones in the Enrollment Guidebook for International Students 2027-2028; exact dates are in each programme's own guidelines. The Medical Sciences programme for international students accepts third-year transfer students only (application late October 2026 to early February 2027).
How to apply
English-taught programmes: online registration on the programme or Undergraduate Admissions website, then document screening and an interview (International Social Studies and Life and Environmental Sciences interviews are online). Japanese-taught programmes: apply to the Entrance Examination for Foreign School Students (October or January application) with EJU and JLPT scores and any required English test, then sit the exam at Tsukuba. Application fee 17,000 yen.
What admissions looks for
- For English-taught programmes, a strong application file that passes document screening, followed by a convincing individual interview.
- For the Japanese-taught route, EJU scores meeting each college's criteria (several colleges require the EJU total to be above average) plus JLPT at the required level.
- Readiness for Tsukuba's research-based education in the field you apply to.
- For Interdisciplinary Engineering, solid mathematics and physics, the foundation subjects of the programme.
Tips for applying to Tsukuba
- 1 Pick your route early: English-taught programmes start in September or October, while the Foreign School Students exam leads to Japanese-taught study from April.
- 2 Budget for the new international tuition: students with Student residence status enrolling from April 2027 pay 608,800 yen a year instead of 535,800 yen.
- 3 EJU can be taken in English as well as Japanese, but the Japanese-taught route still needs JLPT scores from 2025 or 2026.
- 4 Check each English programme's own website: Global Issues publishes its application information separately at bpgi.tsukuba.ac.jp.
Costs & financial aid
2027-28 · figures in JPY
Privately financed international students can apply for scholarships through university recommendation or directly to foundations, and Tsukuba publishes entrance fee exemption and tuition waiver schemes. Japanese Government (MEXT) Scholarship students are also admitted. Tsukuba says the extra income from its 2027 tuition revision will fund study support, counselling, career support and more English courses for international students.
- 282,000 yen (30,000 yen application fee for transfer admission)
- Admission fee
- 535,800 yen to 608,800 yen a year
- Tuition change for international students from April 2027
- 35,000 ringgit (Malaysian students) or 38,000 ringgit (international) a year
- University of Tsukuba Malaysia (UTMy) tuition
Academics
Academic calendar: Two semesters: spring (1 April to 30 September) and fall (1 October to 31 March)
Undergraduate Program of International Social Studies (English-taught)
First-year entry to the Colleges of Social Sciences and International Studies, leading to a Bachelor of Arts in International Social Sciences.
Interdisciplinary Program of Life and Environmental Sciences (English-taught)
English-taught biology, agro-bio resource sciences and geoscience, open to first-year and transfer students.
Bachelor's Program in Interdisciplinary Engineering (English-taught)
Thirteen places for 2027, built on mathematics and physics, with a Bachelor of Engineering and September entry.
Bachelor's Program in Global Issues (English-taught)
A four-year Bachelor of Arts and Science on environmental and human global issues, starting in October.
Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences
Tsukuba's sport school, taught in Japanese, whose alumni include Olympic gold medallists in judo and gymnastics.
Information Science (School of Informatics)
Ruby creator Yukihiro Matsumoto graduated in information science, and pi-record holder Emma Haruka Iwao studied computer science here.
Research
- Three Nobel laureates: Sin-Itiro Tomonaga (Physics 1965), Leo Esaki (Physics 1973) and Hideki Shirakawa (Chemistry 2000).
- The International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (IIIS) is based on the Tsukuba campus.
- Yoshiyuki Sankai, founder and CEO of the cyborg-robot maker Cyberdyne, is a professor in Tsukuba's Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering.
- In September 2024 Tsukuba opened a campus in Kuala Lumpur, the first overseas branch campus of a Japanese university awarding Japanese degrees.
Schools & faculties
- School of Humanities and Culture
- School of Social and International Studies
- School of Human Sciences
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences
- School of Science and Engineering
- School of Informatics
- School of Medicine and Health Sciences
- School of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences
- School of Art and Design
- School of Transdisciplinary Science and Design (Malaysia)
- School of Comprehensive Studies
- School of Integrative and Global Majors
Student life
The campus stretches about five kilometres north to south through Tsukuba Science City, with Mount Tsukuba to the north, and a university bus loop links the areas. Students live in university residence halls such as Hirasuna, Oikoshi, Kasuga and Ichinoya, or in private flats nearby. Sport is central to campus identity: the university has produced many Olympians and runs a large sports school. Living costs outside tuition and rent are about 80,000 yen a month, and Tokyo is 45 minutes away by the Tsukuba Express when you want the big city.
- Residence halls on campus include Hirasuna, Oikoshi, Kasuga and Ichinoya.
- 2,341 international students from 114 countries and regions (May 2025).
- Alumni include footballer Kaoru Mitoma, who chose Tsukuba's football club over turning professional at 18.
- Off-campus facilities include the Shimoda Marine Research Center and the Sugadaira Montane Station.
Housing. International students can live in on-campus residence halls such as Hirasuna, Oikoshi, Kasuga and Ichinoya; dormitory fees are charged separately from tuition.
Location
Tsukuba is a planned science city in Ibaraki Prefecture, north-east of Tokyo, home to many national research institutes. The university sits in the centre of the city, with Mount Tsukuba to the north and Lake Kasumigaura to the south-east. Central Tokyo is about 45 minutes away on the Tsukuba Express or 70 minutes by highway bus.
Nearest airport: Narita International Airport (NRT)
Notable alumni
- YM Yukihiro MatsumotoCreator of the Ruby programming language; information science graduate
- EH Emma Haruka IwaoGoogle computer scientist who calculated a world-record 31.4 trillion digits of pi in 2019; studied computer science at Tsukuba
- KM Kaoru MitomaBrighton & Hove Albion and Japan national team winger; played for the University of Tsukuba football club
- TN Takanori NagaseJudoka and two-time Olympic gold medallist (2020, 2024)
- TI Toshio IwaiMedia artist and game designer; studied plastic art and mixed media from 1981
- ST Stergomena TaxFormer Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community; MPhil and PhD from Tsukuba
Frequently asked questions
Can I study at the University of Tsukuba in English?
Yes. Seven courses in five programmes are taught fully in English, including International Social Studies, biology, agro-bio resource sciences, geoscience, Global Issues and Interdisciplinary Engineering, and Japanese level does not affect admission.
How much is tuition at the University of Tsukuba for international students?
International students enrolling from April 2027 pay 608,800 yen a year (up from 535,800 yen), plus a 282,000 yen admission fee and a 17,000 yen application fee.
Do I need the EJU to apply to Tsukuba?
Only for the Japanese-taught route (Entrance Examination for Foreign School Students), where each college sets EJU subjects and JLPT levels. English-taught programmes select by documents and interview.
When are the Tsukuba application deadlines for 2027?
Online registration for the October round of the Foreign School Students exam closes at 9:00 JST on 1 October 2026, with documents due by 8 October; the January round runs 4 to 12 January 2027. English-taught International Social Studies and Life and Environmental Sciences take applications from late October to mid-November 2026, and Interdisciplinary Engineering from early October to early November 2026.
What is the acceptance rate at the University of Tsukuba?
Tsukuba does not publish an acceptance rate for international applicants. English-taught programmes admit only a handful of students each, for example 4 to 6 per college for 2027.
Sources & methodology
Figures on this page were checked against official university publications, national application services and ranking publishers in September 2026. Each number is shown with the year or admissions cycle it describes. Always confirm deadlines and fees on the university's own website before applying.
- University of Tsukuba: Enrollment Guidebook for International Students 2027-2028 (PDF)
- University of Tsukuba English Programs: Undergraduate
- University of Tsukuba English Programs: Apply
- University of Tsukuba: Admission & Tuition Fees
- University of Tsukuba: Revision of Tuition for International Students (24 March 2026, PDF)
- University of Tsukuba: Living Expenses
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