We will never allow COVID 19 to deprive our students of their learning opportunities!
May 20, 2020
A Message from the President Regarding Financial Support in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
In February 2020, Meiji University established the "COVID-19 Countermeasures Council" and its “COVID-19 Response Headquarters”, that have implemented various measures to maintain and fulfill the university’s role as a higher educational and research institution, even under the present critical conditions.
The following are the measures that Meiji University has already implemented so far in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
・ Enhancement of IT servers for implementing extensive online classes.
・ Procurement of licenses: Paid for the “Zoom” video conferencing service for all 2,700 academic staff.
・ Reinforcement of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that our students can connect to the Library system to access books, papers, newspapers, and various materials at a distance.
・ Provision of rental PCs and Wi-Fi routers for free to those students who do not have them through financial difficulties.
However, even after the Government of Japan declared a state of emergency and strengthened preventive measures against COVID-19 infections, the outlook for the spread of the COVID-19 infection is still uncertain. Under these circumstances, we have to admit that economic stagnation is becoming more serious day by day. Unemployment is increasing and the income of breadwinners is decreasing. In addition, our students are facing further difficulties as a result of losing part-time work.
Accordingly, we at Meiji University officially decided to implement further support measures in order to achieve our goal of making sure that no student will have to withdraw from the university as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outline of the aforementioned measures are as follows;
1. Providing grants to those students who are now facing financial difficulties, called “Emergency Student Support Grants" totaling 500 million JPY.
2. Establishing the new "Student Emergency Relief Fund【SERF】" (Tentative name), funded by contributions and donations from alumni and university staff.
3. Declaring a moratorium on tuition and fees from Spring Semester 2020 until September 19, 2020.
※ If you have already submitted a request for tuition deferment, it will be automatically extended, so you do not need to go through the procedure again.
The COVID-19 pandemic may take a considerable time to end, and short-term support measures alone may not be sufficient in some cases. Therefore, we have decided to combine short-term support measures with those for medium and long-term support.
The "Student Emergency Relief Fund 【SERF】" also aims to prepare for a possible further spread of novel infectious diseases and other natural disasters that usually occur every 10 years or so. Up to now, Meiji University has provided a total of 1.4 billion JPY in scholarships and grants, including the "Scholarships for unforeseen household changes". The new support measures will be established in addition to those already provided.
Details of the "Emergency Student Support Grant” will be announced in the "various support systems within Meiji University" and on our website by Mid-May, together with miscellaneous information on other available scholarships and grants.
Furthermore, we will let you know, as soon as the details of the "Student Emergency Relief Fund【SERF】" become available.
Since its founding in 1881, Meiji University has worked in a spirit of “harmonious cooperation”, together with all stakeholders, to overcome difficulties that have arisen from time to time.
Lastly, I would like to express my determination that we shall overcome this challenging crisis in cooperation with you all.
Kosaku Dairokuno
President, Meiji University
We will never allow COVID-19 to deprive our students of their learning opportunities!
In February 2020, Meiji University established the "COVID-19 Countermeasures Council" and its “COVID-19 Response Headquarters”, that have implemented various measures to maintain and fulfill the university’s role as a higher educational and research institution, even under the present critical conditions.
The following are the measures that Meiji University has already implemented so far in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
・ Enhancement of IT servers for implementing extensive online classes.
・ Procurement of licenses: Paid for the “Zoom” video conferencing service for all 2,700 academic staff.
・ Reinforcement of the Virtual Private Network (VPN) so that our students can connect to the Library system to access books, papers, newspapers, and various materials at a distance.
・ Provision of rental PCs and Wi-Fi routers for free to those students who do not have them through financial difficulties.
However, even after the Government of Japan declared a state of emergency and strengthened preventive measures against COVID-19 infections, the outlook for the spread of the COVID-19 infection is still uncertain. Under these circumstances, we have to admit that economic stagnation is becoming more serious day by day. Unemployment is increasing and the income of breadwinners is decreasing. In addition, our students are facing further difficulties as a result of losing part-time work.
Accordingly, we at Meiji University officially decided to implement further support measures in order to achieve our goal of making sure that no student will have to withdraw from the university as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The outline of the aforementioned measures are as follows;
1. Providing grants to those students who are now facing financial difficulties, called “Emergency Student Support Grants" totaling 500 million JPY.
2. Establishing the new "Student Emergency Relief Fund【SERF】" (Tentative name), funded by contributions and donations from alumni and university staff.
3. Declaring a moratorium on tuition and fees from Spring Semester 2020 until September 19, 2020.
※ If you have already submitted a request for tuition deferment, it will be automatically extended, so you do not need to go through the procedure again.
The COVID-19 pandemic may take a considerable time to end, and short-term support measures alone may not be sufficient in some cases. Therefore, we have decided to combine short-term support measures with those for medium and long-term support.
The "Student Emergency Relief Fund 【SERF】" also aims to prepare for a possible further spread of novel infectious diseases and other natural disasters that usually occur every 10 years or so. Up to now, Meiji University has provided a total of 1.4 billion JPY in scholarships and grants, including the "Scholarships for unforeseen household changes". The new support measures will be established in addition to those already provided.
Details of the "Emergency Student Support Grant” will be announced in the "various support systems within Meiji University" and on our website by Mid-May, together with miscellaneous information on other available scholarships and grants.
Furthermore, we will let you know, as soon as the details of the "Student Emergency Relief Fund【SERF】" become available.
Since its founding in 1881, Meiji University has worked in a spirit of “harmonious cooperation”, together with all stakeholders, to overcome difficulties that have arisen from time to time.
Lastly, I would like to express my determination that we shall overcome this challenging crisis in cooperation with you all.
Kosaku Dairokuno
President, Meiji University