10-Month Program
Program Dates: September 2, 2024 - June 6, 2025

Currently, the IUC admits up to sixty students who (1) are degree candidates or degree holders (either undergraduate or graduate) who intend to pursue a Japan-related career; (2) have demonstrated outstanding professional promise as reflected by grades, recommendations, and statements of purpose; (3) have high-intermediate Japanese skills (generally meaning successful completion of two to three years of training in a rigorous college-level Japanese language training program or the equivalent); and (4) have obtained an acceptable score on the Inter-University Center Japanese Proficiency Exam offered in February 2024. Test instructions will be provided in late January.

The Center’s 10-month program is intended for students who are embarking on careers in some area of Japanese studies or a profession in which fluent Japanese is necessary. The Inter-University Committee encourages students to apply for admission early in their academic careers, when they can devote themselves full time to mastering Japanese without other academic or professional distractions. The Committee welcomes applications from graduating seniors who can demonstrate a mature commitment to a career relating to Japan. Those who have already established careers are welcome to apply to either the 10-month program or the shorter 7-week Summer Program described elsewhere on this site. Students who have previously attended the 10-month program may reapply, but new applicants are strongly prioritized in our selection process.

Admission to the IUC is based entirely on the student’s academic qualifications and professional goals and is completely independent of financial considerations, so no student should hesitate to apply to the Center because of concern over costs. Admissions are made without regard to race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, marital status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Tuition for the 2024–25 IUC 10-month program has been set at $35,000. Students currently enrolled in a degree granting program and/or recently graduated from an IUC consortium member institution during the 2023–24 academic year will receive a guaranteed tuition scholarship of $7,000 to attend the IUC 10-month program during the 2024–25 academic year. (Please note that the guarantee applies only to students from full member schools; the number of scholarships available to students from associate member schools is limited.) Fees are set each year and are subject to change. Tuition fees are collected through our administrative office at Stanford University. For more information about accepted forms of payment, please visit our resources page.

The IUC distributes scholarship funds provided by The Nippon Foundation, The Toshizo Watanabe Foundation, the Shoyu Club, the Tokyo Club, the Mitsubishi UFJ Foundation, the Hiroko Araki Fowler Scholarship, the Ito Foundation USA, the Sato Foundation, SMBC Global Foundation, universities represented on the Inter-University Center Governing Board, and donations from our alumni community to the IUC Alumni Fund. These funds are awarded on the basis of merit and need, in that order, and are subject to availability from each specific granting agency. The conditions and perquisites of these fellowships are subject to change.

Most internal scholarships provide either partial or full tuition and some, for example the Nippon Foundation Fellows Program and the Toshizo Watanabe Fellows Program, also include a modest living stipend. Please visit their program pages for more information.

How to Apply:
The 2024–25 application period will open October 31, 2023.
The application deadline is 11:59 PM EST on January 12, 2024.


Application Fee:
The application fee is $100.
Pay online


Interfolio:
Applications will only be accepted via our Interfolio.com online application portal.

A full IUC 10-month application consists of the items listed below. Document 1 must be completed on Qualtrics, 3 and 5 must be downloaded from the IUC website, and 8 (application fee) must be paid through IUC’s secure online payment portal on Stripe. 

1. Applicant information form (Qualtrics)

2. Current CV

3. Degree Background Form (PDF)

4. Two confidential letters of recommendation from two instructors in non-language courses. Professionals may submit letters from current or former employers.

The letters should comment on:
•   Your past work and future promise in your own field of academic or professional specialization.
•   Your study skills, including self-motivation, active engagement with the learning process, and ability to absorb and retain information.
•   Your ability to adapt to and thrive in a rigorous, potentially stressful study program in an unfamiliar, overseas environment.

5. One confidential language evaluation* from a language instructor in English or Japanese. Please forward this form to your language evaluator to complete and upload to your application in Interfolio. The evaluator is welcome to submit a letter of recommendation in addition to the completed form but it must be combined into a single PDF document first.

•   English (PDF)
•   Japanese (PDF)

6. Statement of Purpose (Instructions)

7. Transcripts
Multiple transcripts must be combined into a single PDF document prior to uploading to Interfolio.

8. Copy of your application fee receipt**.

Questions regarding this program may be addressed to iucjapan@stanford.edu

*Please note that your language evaluator is your third reference, and must be different from your two letter writers.

**If you do not receive a copy of your receipt within 48 hours after payment, please contact us at iucjapan@stanford.edu.