The University of Osaka, known in English as Osaka University until 2025, grew from the Tekijuku school founded in 1838 and became an imperial university in 1931. In the QS World University Rankings 2027, published in June 2026, it was 95th in the world and third in Japan. It’s known for medicine, immunology, engineering and the sciences, and the immunologist Shimon Sakaguchi won the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work done there. Its main campuses are in Suita, Toyonaka and Minoh, north of central Osaka.
Osaka’s fully English-taught bachelor’s degree for international students is the Human Sciences International Undergraduate Degree Program. Here are 10 things you can do to give yourself the best chance, based on the University of Osaka’s own guidance and official Japanese government information.
1. Choose the right English-taught programme
The Human Sciences International Undergraduate Degree Program is a four-year degree taught in English, starting each October, with three areas of focus: Diversity and Inclusion Studies, Japan Studies, and Political and Global Studies. It takes only a small number of students, so classes are small, and strong students can graduate after three and a half years. If you want to study science, the International Undergraduate Program in Science is taught mainly in English for the first year and a half and then mainly in Japanese, so you’ll need to learn Japanese. The English-taught Chemistry-Biology Combined Major Program no longer takes applications.
2. Register and apply between 1 December 2026 and 5 January 2027
For October 2027 entry, you register online from 10 a.m. on 1 December 2026 to 11.59 p.m. on 5 January 2027 (Japan time), and you must pay the ¥17,000 application fee by the same deadline. After paying, you’ll receive a link to the application form and the address to post your documents to, which must arrive by 8 January 2027. The admissions office is closed from 28 December 2026 to 3 January 2027, so send any questions early. From the next cycle, for October 2028 entry, the window moves earlier, to 1 November to 5 December 2027. University of Osaka: Human Sciences admissions.
3. Check that you’re eligible
Japan’s education ministry sets strict rules about which school qualifications allow you to apply, usually 12 years of schooling or a recognised qualification such as the IB or A Levels, and Osaka says its guidelines aren’t an easy read in places because of this. Check the eligibility section of the 2027 guidelines carefully before you register. Osaka looks at your whole application, including your grades, test scores, school activities and service to your community.
4. Send your transcripts and test scores
Along with the application form, you post official secondary school transcripts, a certificate of graduation or expected graduation (Osaka provides a template if your school can’t issue one), an official copy of any standardised test you’ve taken, such as the SAT, ACT, AP, IB or A Levels, and proof of your English level. If you’re still taking your final exams, include predicted grades if you can. Any offer based on predicted grades will be conditional, and you’ll need to send your IB results by July or your A Level results by August 2027.
5. Meet the English requirement
You need a TOEFL iBT score of at least 4.5 on the new scale (or 85 for tests taken on or before 20 January 2026), IELTS Academic 6.5 with generally no component below 6.0, or a grade C or above in Cambridge C1 Advanced. Your score must be from before 8 January 2027 and within its two-year validity, and you send TOEFL scores through ETS using code B815. If you take the TOEFL at home or the IELTS Indicator, you may be interviewed as well. Practise with our free IELTS and TOEFL practice tests.
6. Write a focused personal statement and get two references
You email a personal statement of about 700 words to the programme by 8 January 2027. Osaka wants to know, in concrete terms, how the programme would help your career and personal development, which of the three focus areas interests you most and why, and what you’d bring to the university community. You also need two letters of recommendation explaining why you suit the programme. Write it yourself and be specific. See our 50 sample SOPs for ideas.
7. Be ready for an interview and the decision timeline
Osaka decides mainly on your documents, but it may invite you to an interview, in person or online, if it wants more information. Invitations are sent by 17 February 2027, and interviews take place from mid-February to mid-March. Results are emailed on 26 March 2027, you must reply to an offer by 7 May, and you pay the enrolment fee in June to hold your place. Classes start on 1 October 2027.
8. Plan your fees and funding
Osaka asks you to pay the enrolment fee and tuition yourself unless you have a scholarship. At Japan’s national universities, the standard amounts are an admission fee of ¥282,000 and tuition of ¥535,800 a year, but some have raised their fees, so check Osaka’s current figures. Students with outstanding grades can receive the University of Osaka Scholarship of ¥80,000 a month, and Human Sciences students can apply in advance for JASSO’s Monbukagakusho Honors Scholarship of ¥48,000 a month, which is open only to students in fully English-taught programmes. After you enrol, you can apply for a half or full tuition waiver each semester. Human Sciences students also get priority for a place in a university dormitory in their first year. University of Osaka: scholarships for English-taught undergraduate programmes.
9. Get your Certificate of Eligibility and student visa
Once you’ve accepted your place and paid your admission fee, the University of Osaka applies to the Immigration Services Agency of Japan for a Certificate of Eligibility (CoE) on your behalf, using documents you provide, including proof that you or a sponsor can pay for your studies and living costs. When your CoE is issued, which can be done electronically, you take it with your passport to the Japanese embassy or consulate in your country to get a student visa. You’ll be given your residence card when you arrive at a major airport, and you must register your address at your local city office and join Japan’s National Health Insurance within 14 days of moving in. If you need to extend your stay later, note that the fees went up on 1 October 2026 and now depend on the period you’re given: for example, ¥33,000 at an immigration office (¥27,000 online) for a one-year extension, instead of a flat ¥6,000. Immigration Services Agency of Japan: residence fees from 1 October 2026.
10. Plan for work during and after your studies
A student visa doesn’t allow you to work on its own. You first need “permission to engage in an activity other than that permitted”, which you can request at the airport when you arrive or later at an immigration office. It lets you work up to 28 hours a week, and up to eight hours a day during the university’s long vacations, but never in bars, nightclubs or other adult entertainment businesses. Most Japanese companies recruit graduates a year or more before they start, so begin your job search early, and remember that Japanese language skills make a big difference. If you haven’t found a job by graduation, you can apply, with a recommendation from the University of Osaka, for a “Designated Activities” status for job hunting, which gives you six months and can be renewed once, for up to a year in total. When you get a job offer, you’ll switch to a work status such as Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services. University of Osaka: work permit for part-time jobs.
Applying for a master’s or PhD at Osaka?
Osaka’s graduate schools admit students directly, and several offer master’s and doctoral programmes taught in English, with their own dates and requirements. You’ll usually need to contact a potential supervisor before you apply. The Japanese government’s MEXT Scholarship, which you can apply for through the Japanese embassy in your country or through a university recommendation, covers tuition and pays a monthly allowance. See our 50 sample SOPs and free GRE practice tests.
Be ambitious, but apply to a balanced list
Osaka’s English-taught programme is small, so apply to other options too. Read our guides to the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, the Institute of Science Tokyo and Tohoku University. Our guide to studying in Japan explains how the Japanese system works, and our free study abroad assessment can help you build a shortlist.
Information was taken from the University of Osaka’s official Human Sciences International Undergraduate Degree Program admissions page and 2027 application guidelines, its scholarship and work permit pages, the Immigration Services Agency of Japan and the QS World University Rankings 2027, and checked in October 2026. Admissions rules, deadlines, fees and immigration rules can change, so always confirm the details on the Human Sciences programme website before you apply. StudyAbroadMarket is not affiliated with the University of Osaka.