Kansai Gaidai University Exchange

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COUNTRY: Japan CITY: Hirakata City HOST INSTITUTION: Kansai Gaidai University TYPE OF PROGRAM: UNI Exchange SESSIONS: Fall, Spring, Academic Year ELIGIBILITY: Sophomore or above; 3.0 GPA FIELDS OF STUDY: Social Sciences, Humanities, Business/Economics, and Studio Art. LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION: English, Japanese

Program Links Program Presentation

Student life at Kansai Gaidai revolves around a variety of settings: classrooms, clubs, library, cafeterias and lounges, any of which can be the starting point for involvement in the Kansai Gaidai community. Over 13,000 Japanese students are interested in meeting and interacting with international students.

Hirakata city has a population of over 400,000 inhabitants. The city is located between Osaka (Japan’s second largest industrial city) and Kyoto, Japan’s ancient capital. Located in the cultural heart of Japan, the campus provides an excellent starting point to begin exploring the land that, by anyone's standards, is truly fascinating. Many of the cities in the Kansai region are extensively utilized in the Asian Studies Program through field trips, independent research, and/or case studies.

Kansai Gaidai University (est. 1945) is a private, nonprofit institution established after WWII. It has four distinct educational programs, fully accredited by the Japanese Ministry of Education: Kansai Gaidai University (8,700 students), Kansai Gaidai College (4,300 students), the Graduate School (90 students), and the Asian Studies Program (over 400 students). The two campuses of Kansai Gaidai (Katahoko and Hotani) are located in Hirakata city.
 

The Asian Studies Program, founded in 1972, annually welcomes about 400 competitively selected students from more than 30 countries. It provides students from all over the world an opportunity to study and obtain firsthand knowledge of the culture and language of Japan. All courses, except for Japanese language courses, are conducted in English.

Students take Japanese courses in the morning and Social Sciences, Humanities, Business/Economics, and Studio Art courses in the afternoon. Four courses, including Spoken Japanese (required), are the minimum required semester load (14 credits) but the student may register for a maximum of five courses (17 credits). An official transcript is issued at the end of the program. Fall semester: Late August to mid-December; Spring semester: late January to late May.

More information about academics at Kansai Gaidai here (academic calendar and course descriptions).

Fall Program: Late August to mid-December

Spring program: late January to late May.

All credit earned at Kansai Gaidai may be applied toward your degree. Students will typically earn between 14 and 17 credit hours for their semester of study. Transcripts will be sent to the students’ home university upon completion of the program. Credits earned on the program do not count against residency requirements for graduation.

Student housing can be arranged in either the home-stay program, or on-campus dormitory. Home-stay is recommended for students who truly wish to learn the Japanese culture and language. On-campus housing is best for students who wish to be with other speakers of English. Off-campus housing is available, but it is quite expensive. On-campus housing is free of charge and part of your meals are paid for.

UNI students pay UNI tuition and fees (in-state or out-of-state) plus the study abroad fee to participate.  The program cost does not include housing, food, books and supplies, round-trip air transportation, international health insurance, or personal expenses. The program cost does not include housing if you decided to do a home-stay.

Students eligible for financial aid should contact the UNI Financial Aid Office and/or study abroad advisor to make the necessary financial aid arrangements. In many cases, students may be able to apply some or all of their financial aid to their study abroad experience. Participants in this program are also eligible for the Study Abroad Scholarship and a variety of other funding options, including the Robert Eller Scholarship. UNI students majoring in Economics or Business are eligible for the Lawrence Jepson Scholarship. Students are encouraged to explore other funding options. Begin your research in the study abroad resource library and on the study abroad web site.

Bridging Scholarships for Study in Japan

The Association of Teacher of Japanese Bridging Project accepts applications from American students participating in study-abroad programs in Japan. Funding from private foundations and major U.S. corporation has made it possible for ATJ to award 100 scholarships annually to assist students with the travel and living expenses they will incur while studying aboard in Japan.

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for Undergraduate Study Abroad

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Institute of International Education, this program enables students who have limited financial means the opportunity to participate in study abroad opportunities worldwide. The program provides awards of up to $5,000 for U.S. citizen undergraduate students at two- and four-year institutions to pursue country-based semester or academic-year long study opportunities abroad. 
To be eligible students must be receiving a Federal Pell Grant at the time of application and cannot be studying abroad in a country currently under a U.S. Department of State Travel Warning or in Cuba. For more information, full eligibility criteria, application deadlines and the online application please access the Gilman Program website at www.iie.org/gilman. 

 

A complete set of application materials will include one original and one copy of the following:

• UNI Application Packet
• Kansai Gaidai Application

To download and print available forms please refer to our Forms page.

Fall program deadline: March 1

Spring program deadline: October 1

Inquiries about the Japan program should be directed to: 
Yana Cornish, Study Abroad Coordinator
Office of International Programs 
28 Gilchrist hall, UNI  
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0520 
Tel: 319/ 273-7078 Fax: 319/ 273-2921 email: study-abroad@uni.edu 

“Going abroad to study, especially someplace like Japan, can be that experience that changes your life. My experience at Gaidai and in Japan taught me perspective and that there are millions of them. This experience has been my number one key to be professionally and personally successful” - Gregory Dekker, Illinois State University

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