FUTI provides scholarships to support short-term, summer study abroad programs between UTokyo and US universities, as well as mid- to long-term study abroad programs of one semester or more in the US, primarily for UTokyo undergraduate, graduate, and alumni students.
In the short-term summer study abroad category, five UTokyo students were selected out of 11 applicants. In addition, seven out of 55 applicants were selected from the US to study at UTokyo. This extraordinary number was due to the large number of applications from all over the world for the UTRIP (UTokyo Research Internship Program) at UTokyo’s Faculty of Science, which resulted in UTokyo only accepting approximately 1% to the program. Of the 40 applicants who applied for a FUTI Scholarship, only two were accepted to UTRIP. The two accepted were also highly evaluated by FUTI.
In the mid- to long-term study abroad category, 14 students were selected out of 36 applicants (including one of the two students from a US university). The breakdown is as follows: 1) In the non-degree-seeking programs such as the USTEP (University-wide Student Exchange Program), including the aforementioned US university students, five were selected out of 14 applicants; 2) Two were selected out of six applicants who are graduating from UTokyo and seeking a degree in the US; 3) Four were selected out of 12 applicants who had previously graduated from UTokyo and are currently working or studying abroad and seeking a degree in the US; 4) One was selected out of two applicants who are in the UTokyo doctoral program; and 5) Two scholarship recipients from the previous year are both continuing to receiving support for their studies in the US. It is somewhat rare for those in category 3 above to receive support, and this year was no exception in that competition was fierce in both quality and quantity.
UTokyo has nearly one hundred partner schools around the world for cross-border student exchange, of which nine are in the US including Johns Hopkins University, Northeastern University, Northwestern University, Princeton University, Swarthmore College, University of California Santa Cruz, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington, and Yale University. Tuition is free at the partner school if tuition is paid at UTokyo, and the study exchange is for one to two semesters. For the USTEP program, UTokyo has an internal selection process, making it an attractive study abroad program for UTokyo students. In the past, only UTokyo students were eligible for the program, but for the first time in FY2025, one USTEP student from the US was selected to study at UTokyo on a trial basis. One reason for the relatively small number of partner universities in the US is that tuition fees are substantially higher than in other countries, making it difficult for UTokyo to cover the difference.
In addition to the university-wide exchange agreements, each department has its own exchange agreements with a total of nearly 300 schools around the world. Some of the exchanges with schools in the US include: UTokyo Medical School with Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Michigan, and University of Hawaii; UTokyo School of Engineering exchange program with Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the entire University of California system; UTokyo Department of Science exchange program with the entire University of California system; UTokyo College of Arts and Sciences exchange program with the New York University graduate school; UTokyo Pharmaceutical Sciences with the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center; and the UTokyo Graduate School of Public Policy with Columbia University and University of California Los Angeles. Individuals may also apply directly to US universities. FUTI accepts applications from all of these programs with application numbers outlined in the abovementioned category 1.
The following applicant trends are noteworthy:
- There were many applicants in the Computer Science, AI, and Data Science-related fields, but few applicants from general science or humanities majors.
- The number of applicants from doctoral programs has decreased in recent years, possibly because the number of scholarships available from US universities for doctoral students has increased.
- There are many students obtaining other scholarships in addition to FUTI’s. This may also be due to the increase in available scholarships.
- Many students wish to study abroad and work in the US. This may be a sign of Japan’s economic stagnation.
- Many applicants are in interdisciplinary fields, possibly because areas of study that don’t fit in traditional disciplines are on the rise.
FUTI will continue to make the best use of the donations received by continuing to focus wholeheartedly on supporting and nurturing future leaders.