Overseas Education

Overseas Education
28 + 17 Partner Universities

Conclusion of the agreement with University of Tennessee Knoxville

International exchange at the Faculty of Intercultural Studies

The Faculty of Intercultural Studies is the faculty with the most international exchange in Kobe University. Every year, many teachers go abroad for research, presentations or international conferences, while a large number of professors and researchers from overseas universities visit the Faculty of Intercultural Studies for intellectual exchanges. There is a great deal of international exchange between students as well, with each department making inter-faculty agreements with departments of overseas universities and setting up exchange programs.

28 Partner universities

As of April 2012, there are ongoing exchange programs with 28 universities in 16 different countries. The number of students that can be sent to each from the Faculty of Intercultural Studies is shown below. Aside from these, there are 17 universities in school-wide exchange agreements to which students of the Faculty can apply.

Exchange system by agreement

All exchanges according to these agreements have the following three points in common. [1] Tuition for the university you move to is free (you will, however, still need to pay tuition for Kobe University). [2] Any credits acquired at the target university will be accepted as Kobe University credits. [3] While studying abroad, you will still be counted as enrolled at Kobe University, so with careful class planning, you can graduate in four years, including one year abroad. While the class fees in [1] vary from country to country and so it can be more or less useful, [2] and [3] are exclusive benefits to the exchange agreements. Exchange programs are an excellent opportunity to learn a language and gain a deeper understanding of another culture. You may apply from the second half of year one.

Exchange prerequisites

Exchange students are chosen through interviews. Selection is based on the following four aspects. [1] Literary examination and linguistic skill. [2] Motive for application. [3] Suitability (ability to cope with living abroad for a year). [4] Focus (a clear plan of what to do abroad). Additionally, if your country of choice is an English-speaking nation, you will often need a certain level of TOEFL or IELTS grades. A certain level of energy, activity and linguistic skill will be needed wherever you go.

Scholarship

As a general rule, non-class fees are at the student’s expense, but you may apply to JASSO for a scholarship. Additionally, Kobe University has some arrangements in place for aiding overseas education. These exist to help with travel and living expenses, to a maximum of 400,000 yen. However, you will need to meet the foreign language skills required by your destination to receive aid. If your destination is not an English-speaking country, you will be required to have suitable command of its common language. Aid is given to roughly 15 Kobe University students each year.

Post-return employment

Studying abroad starting in your second year should not cause any difficulties in seeking employment after graduation. If you start in your third year, you will typically come back in June of the fourth year, which might be considered a little late to start finding employment. However, there are examples of using experience from studying abroad to gain an advantage over those who remained in Japan. Studying abroad can help in finding work, but will never be a detriment.

Exchange students coming to the Faculty of Intercultural Studies

The Faculty of Intercultural Studies does not only send students, but accepts 40 to 50 exchange students each year from schools with which it has agreements. Since you can take classes with exchange students at the Faculty of Intercultural Studies, you have a chance to experience international exchange before going abroad.