Japan’s New Ruling Coalition Reach 1st Accord by Agreeing on Free High School Tuition

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:34 JST, November 1, 2025

The Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party on Friday agreed on the details of a system to make high school tuition free, making it the first formal accord on implementing a major policy outlined in the coalition agreement between the two parties.

Starting next fiscal year, tuition for high school students, including those attending private schools, will be effectively free regardless of household income level, the two ruling parties agreed during their first meeting of policy chiefs held at the Diet Building.

For the current fiscal year, all households receive ¥118,800 per student in annual assistance, regardless of whether the student attends a public or private school. This amount is equivalent to the annual tuition fee for public high schools. Previously, this assistance was provided only to households with an annual income of less than ¥9.1 million.

Based on Friday’s agreement, the amount provided to households with students attending private schools will be raised to a maximum of ¥457,000 per year from next fiscal year, providing next fiscal year’s budget proposal and related bills are enacted.

To prevent opportunistic tuition hikes by private schools, the government will reduce its subsidies for private school assistance to prefectural governments that fail to implement countermeasures.

Students who are foreign nationals will be eligible to receive the envisaged assistance only if they are permanent residents, while international students and students attending international schools and other schools for foreign nationals will be excluded. The annual assistance for students of private correspondence high schools will be a maximum of ¥337,000.

Supplemental scholarship benefits to help with textbooks and other expenses will be expanded from households exempt from resident tax to include middle-income families.

It is feared that there will be a decline in applicants for public schools when private schools become effectively tuition-free. To address this, the government will formulate a high school education reform plan within this fiscal year and strengthen support for public schools through measures such as introducing grants.

The LDP, JIP and Komeito agreed in February to make high school tuition free and had been working on a system. On Friday, the policy research council chairs of the three parties were expected to sign an agreement document, but Komeito did not attend the meeting, and the signing was postponed.