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School of Political Science and Economics, Meiji University Exchange Student Application Guidelines

Long-term Student Exchange Program: Process and Requirements for Application

【Application Schedule for the Exchange Student Program of the School of Political Science and Economics (SPSE)】
  April Addmission
(Spring Semester)
September Admission 
(Fall Semester)
1) Nomination form the home instituion Due September 15, 2025
(Japan Time)
February 15, 2026
(Japan Time)
2) Online submission of Application form Due September 15, 2025
(Japan Time)
February 15, 2026
(Japan Time)
3) Application period by Email August 18~ October 1, 2025
(Japan Time)
January 15 ~ March 1, 2026
(Japan Time)
4) Addmission period November~December in the year before
April ~June of the year
*When the starting date of application is approaching, the SPSE Office of Meiji University will send the information on the exchange program application procedures to the partner universities by e-mail.


【Application Requirements】
1. The student at one of the partner universities of School of Political Science and Ecnomics (SPSE) of Meiji University is eligible.
*Participants of the Exchange Student Program of the SPSE must be enrolled to their home institution until they finish the Program. Those who will graduate from their home institution before the Program starts or during the Program are not allowed to apply.

2. You must complete studying at your home university al least for one year before starting the exchange program.

3. Language Requirements (English or Japanese)
◆If you take courses in English; TOEFL iBT 71 or above, TOEIC 710 or above, IELTS 5.5 or above, Cambridge ESOL FCE or above, CEFR B1 or above,  or its equivalent level
◆If you take courses in Japanese; Japanese Language Proficiency Test N3 or above, or its equivalent level
* If there are requirements about language proficiency on the MOU between your home institution and the SPSE, priority is given to that of the MOU.
* The language proficiency test must be taken within 2 years before the day when you submit your application materials (except for Japanese Proficiency Level Test certificate of N1).
 
4. GPA: no requirement.


【How to apply: Nomination and Application Procedures】
(1)Nomination by home institution
(2)Submission of the online application form
(3)Submission of the application materials by E-mail
(4)Application for a Certificate of Eligibility (to obtain a student visa and a resident status of "Study Abroad") 

(1)Nomination by home institution
Coordinators at our partner universities need to nominate students to the SPSE Office, Meiji University first.
・ Please use a designated “Students List” when you nominate students. “Student List” will be e-mailed to the partner universities prior to the application period.
・ Please wait for a confirmation e-mail from the SPSE Office, Meiji University. Then, please advise the nominated students to start this application procedures.


<Note>
Students at the partner universities of the SPSE:
Before proceeding with the application procedures, please make sure that the coordinators at your home institution have submitted a "Student List" to the SPSE Office of Meiji University.

(2)Submission of the online application form

Each applicant needs to submit the online application form themselves by the deadline from the following link.

“Online Application Form for the Exchange Student Program of the School of Political Science and Economics (The SPSE) , Meiji University”
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/seikei/spse-exchange/

(3)Submission of the application materials by E-mail

Submit application materials by E-mail to the E-mail address below with following required items:
Title: “Application materials of the Exchange Student Program for Spring 2026”
・Text: Write (a) your name and (b) home university and faculty in the text of the E-mail.

E-mail address: seikei[at]mics.meiji.ac.jp  *Please change "[at]" to "@".

<Note>
・Each applicant needs to prepare and submit all the following application materials by the deadline.
・All documents must be written in Japanese or in English.
・Please read through the “Check List for Application Materials” carefully first.
・Please submit each material in a designated format (PDF, Excel and JPEG/PNG).
・The place indicated as "signature" on each document should be signed by the student by hand.
・Any application materials submitted after the deadline is not accepted.

No. Name of the document Download Submission Format
1 Check List for Application Materials 【Standard form】 PDF
2 Signature of the Applicant and the Exchange Student Program Coordinator 【Standard form】 PDF
3 Nomination Letter (from Dean of your home department to Dean of the SPSE) - PDF
4 Study Plan 【Standard form】 PDF
5 A copy of your English Language Proficiency Test Certificate or Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Certificate - PDF
6 The latest Academic Transcript written in English - PDF
7 Certificate of Health 【Standard form】 PDF
8 A copy of your passport (page of your photo, must be valid until the end of exchange program) - PDF
9 ID photo (taken within 6 months as it is also used for documents for your visa application and Student ID Card) - JPEG/PNG
10 Housing Form 【Standard form】
【Sample】
 
*The SPSE does not require our partners/ students to send original hard copies of the application materials by courier.

(4)Application for a Certificate of Eligibility (to obtain a student visa and a resident status of "Study Abroad")
In order to study abroad at Meiji University as an exchange student, international students are basically required to obtain a student visa and a resident status of "Study Abroad". 

To obtain a student visa and a resident status of "Study Abroad", all applicants must apply for a Certificate of Eligibility (COE) in the application process for an exchange program.
For details regarding how to apply for a COE, please refer to an e-mail with a guideline from the SPSE Office which will be sent to applicants after they complete Step (1) Nomination by home institution and (2) Submission of the online application form in their application process.

For your information, students need to prepare and submit following documents to apply for a COE in many cases:
- Application for the Certificate of Eligibility
- Statement of Financial Responsibility
- Documentation which shows the proof of the payment amount indicated on the “10. Application for Certificate of Eligibility”
 ①A bank balance certificate or copy of the applicant's account bankbook
 ②A bank balance certificate or copy of the bankbook for the bank account of the person responsible for payment
 ③An income certificate of the person responsible for payment
 ④Certificate of scholarship funds received. (Disbursement period must correspond to duration of study abroad at Meiji.)


*In the past year (2025AY), applicants were required to submit a proof document showing that they can afford 720,000JPY or more (for semester exchange) or 1,440,000JPY or more (for one-year exchange). 
  In 2026AY or later, it is expected that applicants will be requested to submit proof documents showing your financial ability of the same mount or more.
  Please be ready to prepare the proof documents while preparing for the application.
 

*Please note that the SPSE
 cannot accept students who miss to obtain a COE even if they meet all the requirements and submit all the necessary application materials.

Department and Campus

 (1) Department
Exchange students belong to either of the following departments of the SPSE.
Please select one when you submit the online application form:
・政治学科 / Department of Political Science
・経済学科 / Department of Economics

(2) Campus
Exchange students will be accepted as 3rd-grade (junior) students of the SPSE.
The SPSE delivers courses for 3rd-grade (junior) and 4th-grade (senior) students on Surugadai Campus and exchange students usually study on Surugadai Campus.
*The SPSE delivers courses for 1st-grade (freshman) and 2nd-grade (sophomore) students on Izumi Campus. 
   If you need to take courses for 1st-grade (freshman) and 2nd-grade (sophomore) students to meet requirements of your home university, you will need to go to Izumi Campus.
*For details of campuses, please see visit this page.

Courses for Exchange Students

(1)Courses offered by the School of Political Science and Economics
Please refer to the carriculum chart and syllabus.
Please note that the carriculum chart includes all courses offered by the SPSE and most of the courses in this chart are offered in Japanese except for the courses listed in "(2)" below.

(2) Courses offered in English 
The SPSE offers courses taught in English.
Please refer to a sample course list here for the courses offered in English during this academic year.

【Notes】
・Some courses are not open for exchange students.
  (e.g. Advanced Communicative English (ACE) courses, Exercise Science in Practice, Japanese Society and Culture, language courses expect for Japanese language courses for exchange students etc.)
・Some courses are not offered every year.
・The School of Political Science and Economics strongly recommends exchange students to take at least 1 course provided by the SPSE
・Exchange students can take courses offered by other Schools of Meiji University as long as the School makes them open to exchange students of the SPSE. However, please note that the SPSE cannot guarantee that other Schools of Meiji University will offer their courses for exchange students who belong to the SPSE in the coming semesters and it may be possible that exchange students of the SPSE are not allowed to take any courses of the other Schools. From this reason, please carefully consider whether the SPSE is suitable as a destination of your study abroad before applying for the program and make sure that you can meet requirements (e.g. credit transfer and graduation) of your home university by taking courses offered by the SPSE even without taking courses of other Schools of Meiji University.
・The SPSE Office will provide detailed course lists to the applicants when their applications for the exchange program are officially accepted.

Faculty members of the School of Political Science and Economics

 Click here for a list of faculty members.

Housing for Exchange Students and Life in Japan (Living Expenses, Insurance and etc.)

Please refer to FACT SHEET for information on available dormitories for exchange students and student life in Japan including estimated living expenses, insurance, and etc.

Japanese Language Education For Exchange Students

Exchange students can take Japanese language courses at Meiji University.
For details of Japanese language courses, please click here.

Timing of Program Completion and Issuing Academic Transcript for Each Semester

Information on timing of program completion and issuing academic transcript for each semester is available here.

Student's voice

Here are messages from exchange students who studied at the SPSE of Meiji University.
You can also see other messages and stories of international students studying at the SPSE from the following link:
Interntational Students' Voice

About Meiji University

 Click here for information on Meiji University (brochures and videos) for your reference.

Inquiries

The Office of the School of Political Science and Economics (International Team): 
Surugadai Campus: 1-1 Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
E-mail address: seikei[at]mics.meiji.ac.jp  *Please change "[at]" to "@".
https://www.meiji.ac.jp/cip/english/about/campus/su_campus.html