Grant Scholarship 2026: ¥75,800 a Month, Four Brackets

The answer: four brackets, and the monthly amount for a private university away from home

Sources: JASSO, "Amount of the grant scholarship"[amounts] and "Income criteria for applying in high school"[income criteria]. The income figures are the guide for a four-person household: the student, parent A (employed), parent B (no income) and a junior high school child.

This table is for the advance application made in the third year of high school. From the in-school application onwards, the same four-person household sees ¥2,950,000, ¥3,950,000, ¥4,610,000 and ¥6,980,000[JASSO, in-school application]. When you read an "income up to X" figure, check which table it comes from.

In Bracket IV, money is only paid to multi-child households

Bracket IV was created in fiscal 2024 for middle-income households. Meeting the income test is not enough. You also need to be either a multi-child household, or enrolled in a science, engineering or agriculture programme at a private school[JASSO, Bracket IV]. And the two routes are not the same thing.

The amount table also notes "multi-child households only" against the Bracket IV monthly figures. The size of the gap-based waiver is not given in the published materials.

The multi-child waiver has no income limit - but it stops at the cap

From fiscal 2025, students in multi-child households receive the tuition and fee waiver with no income limit[MEXT]. They qualify even if household income is above Bracket IV, and even if assets are between ¥50 million and ¥300 million[JASSO, multi-child households]. The grant scholarship itself, however, is not paid.

People call it "free university", but what is free is only the amount up to the cap. At a private university charging ¥1,100,000 a year, ¥400,000 is left to pay every year (our own calculation).

Annual caps. The entrance fee is covered once only. Facility charges and lab fees are not covered. Source: MEXT, "Questions and answers on making tuition free for multi-child households", Q4-1[MEXT]

How it ends deserves attention too. Once the first child graduates and leaves your dependents, leaving two children, multi-child support ends[MEXT, questions and answers]. If the elder child starts work while the younger one is still enrolled, the waiver disappears the following year.

The test is not income but "taxable standard amount x 6%". Furusato nozei does not help

Your support bracket is not decided by income as such. It is decided by the benefit calculation base amount, computed from resident tax data. The student's figure and the supporting parents' figures are added together.

Source: JASSO, "Income criteria before enrolment (advance application)"[JASSO]

This is where tax planning parts company with the scheme. Cutting your resident tax with furusato nozei or the housing loan credit does not move the benefit calculation base amount. JASSO states plainly that these tax credits do not affect the base amount.

Assets must be under ¥50 million. Real estate is not counted

On the application date, the combined assets of the student and the supporting parents must also be under ¥50 million[JASSO]. Only the multi-child tuition waiver has a looser limit, under ¥300 million[MEXT, attachment 1]. What counts is cash, deposits, retirement money and securities, with NISA holdings included at market value. What does not count is real estate, and insurance or education savings policies before maturity.

"We own our home, so we cannot apply" is a misunderstanding. The reverse is also true: cash received from grandparents for school fees does count as assets (gifts for education costs and the exemption).

New for 2026: a sibling earning up to ¥1,600,000 still counts as a "child"

Whether you are a multi-child household depends on whether you support three or more children[JASSO, multi-child households]. In 2026 the way they are counted changed. Because the special deduction for specified relatives was created, from the test that uses fiscal 2026 resident tax, a sibling with a certain level of income still counts as a "child".

In terms of total income, that is over ¥580,000 and up to ¥950,000. Source: JASSO, "Review of support brackets in October 2026"[JASSO]

The point that matters is "a separate declaration is required". JASSO mails guidance on the paperwork to households that look likely to qualify. But for siblings born early in the year at age 18 (born between 2 January and 1 April 2007), JASSO cannot identify them, so you have to tell the school yourself.

The ¥1,230,000 and ¥1,600,000 figures here are the ones used for the resident tax test. The income thresholds for income tax differ by tax year, so do not apply them here directly. Part-time pay and a parent's deductions are sorted out in student part-time work and being a parent's dependent.

How much four years differ: ¥4,460,000 between Bracket I and Bracket III

Our own calculation. The Bracket III waiver is taken as one third of the full amount. Schools handle the rounding differently.

The gap between Bracket I and Bracket III is about ¥4,460,000. In household income terms that is the difference between ¥2,710,000 and ¥3,780,000. A multi-child household inside Bracket IV comes to ¥3,972,000 over four years.

The grant scholarship is tax free. But the student's part-time pay does move the bracket

No tax is charged on the grant scholarship you receive. Article 9, paragraph 1, item 15 of the Income Tax Act makes money and goods granted to cover school costs tax free[Digital Agency, law search]. There is no income tax return and no resident tax filing to make, and it is left out of the tests for a parent's dependent deduction and for the special deduction for specified relatives.

Support can shrink by another route, though. The benefit calculation base amount includes the student's own figure. Part-time pay is taxable income, so earning too much raises the student's base amount and can push the household down a bracket.

Applications open in spring of the third year of high school. Attendance below 60% can end the payments

The advance application made before enrolment is accepted from late April to the end of July in the third year of high school. Each school sets its own deadline. Applying after enrolment can still be backdated to the April payment, but the money starts months later.

1. Collect the forms at your high school. Even people who will only qualify for the waiver as a multi-child household have to apply.
2. Apply online. You submit the individual numbers of the student and the supporting parents.
3. Post the "scholarship confirmation form and local tax consent form". That completes the application.
4. File the enrolment report after you start. Without it you stay a candidate and no money is paid.
5. Receive the transfers. As a rule on the 11th of each month (the 21st in April, the 16th in May)[JASSO, payment dates].

The testing continues after you are accepted. The bracket set by the eligibility review of household finances applies from the October payment to the following September payment[JASSO]. That is why the amount transferred changes in October.

"You never repay it" comes with conditions

• Warning (payments continue): credits earned at 70% or less of the standard, results in the bottom quarter of the faculty, or attendance at 80% or less
• Suspension: two warnings in a row where the second is for bottom-quarter results alone
• Termination (payments end): graduation confirmed as delayed, credits earned at 60% or less of the standard, attendance at 60% or less, or consecutive warnings

On termination, unless your results were markedly poor for unavoidable reasons, you can be asked to repay what you received. Source: JASSO, "Eligibility review (academic)"[JASSO]

The amounts have not risen. So do not leave money on the table

In its fiscal 2027 budget request, MEXT listed higher education support as an item request with no figure attached. In the same document it writes that "the scholarship amounts have not been adjusted in recent years"[MEXT, fiscal 2027 budget request]. Between fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2024, school fees rose 4.2% and living costs 13.4%. If the amounts stay frozen, real support keeps shrinking.

What you can do is claim everything you are entitled to. If you support three or more children, it is worth applying whatever your income. High school support is covered in free high school 2026 and the prefectural top-ups, and repayment help after graduation in scholarship repayment support and its tax treatment.

Frequently asked questions (income, brackets and tax)

Summary

• For fiscal 2026, the grant-type scholarship for Category I (private university, living away from home) is ¥75,800 a month.
• The household income guideline for a 4-person household applying under advance selection has 4 tiers: ¥2.71 million, ¥3.03 million, ¥3.78 million, and ¥6.35 million.
• Only multi-child households receive cash payments under Category IV. Multi-child households get tuition reductions up to the cap with no income limit.
• The category is determined by taxable standard amount × 6%. Reducing resident tax through furusato nozei or the home loan deduction does not change it.
• Advance selection applications run from late April to the end of July of the third year of high school. Enrollment can be terminated for earning 60% or less of required credits, 60% or less attendance, and similar reasons.

Reference links (sources)

• JASSO, amount of the grant scholarship - monthly figures by bracket
• JASSO, income criteria for applying in high school - the formula, assets and income guides
• JASSO, income criteria for the in-school application - income guides after enrolment
• JASSO, on the creation of Bracket IV - multi-child households versus science programmes
• JASSO, on support for multi-child households - the waiver with no income limit and how children are counted
• JASSO, review of support brackets in October 2026 - the period covered and specified relatives
• JASSO, eligibility review (academic) - warning, suspension and termination
• JASSO, scholarship payment date calendar - the 11th of each month as a rule
• MEXT, questions and answers on making tuition free for multi-child households - caps and the asset test
• MEXT, approach to the fiscal 2027 budget request of the Higher Education Bureau - the item request and rising school fees
• Digital Agency law search, Income Tax Act article 9, paragraph 1, item 15 - school funding is tax free

Our calculations apply published figures ourselves. Actual support and brackets are decided by your school and JASSO.