An exchange program lets you study at a partner university abroad for a semester or a year, earn credits, and then return to finish your degree at home. Unlike a full scholarship for a whole degree, an exchange is short‑term — and it usually requires your home university to already have a partnership agreement with the host university.
⚠️ Before you apply: exchange places are arranged through university‑to‑university agreements. Ask your international office whether your school has an agreement with the host university, and always confirm the current deadlines and requirements on the official page.
Kanazawa University Exchange Program (KUEP)
- Length: 5 or 11 months (one or two semesters)
- Intake: April or October
- Who can apply: students enrolled at a partner university, with strong academic standing
- Language: Japanese‑taught classes need JLPT N2+; English‑taught need TOEIC 700 / TOEFL iBT 72 / IELTS 5.5
- You study: specialized seminars and research, plus Japanese language & culture courses
- Example deadline: Spring 2027 intake — nominate by 25 Sep 2026, apply by 16 Oct 2026
Details are summarized from Kanazawa University’s official KUEP page and can change. Always verify current requirements and deadlines with your university’s international office and the host university before applying. Taste X Tech is an independent educational site and is not affiliated with any university listed here.
How an exchange actually works
On an exchange you stay enrolled at your home university and remain its student throughout. You study at the host university for an agreed period, and the credits you earn are brought back and counted towards the degree you are already doing. You graduate from your home university, not the host.
This is why the partnership agreement matters so much: without one, there is no mechanism for the credits to transfer, however good your grades are.
Settle the credit question before you go
The most common problem students hit is returning with credits that do not map onto their home programme, and having to repeat a semester. Agree this in writing beforehand:
- Which specific host courses will be taken, and which home requirements each one replaces.
- Who signs off on that mapping — usually a faculty coordinator, not the international office alone.
- What happens if a course is full or cancelled after you arrive.
- How host grades convert onto your home transcript.
What exchange funding usually covers
Exchange places commonly waive tuition at the host university, since you continue paying fees at home. Living costs, flights, insurance and visa fees are often your own responsibility, though some programmes add a stipend or a travel grant. Because the funding is thinner than a full scholarship, budgeting matters more, not less.
If your university has no agreement
That is not necessarily the end of it. Ask the international office whether any agreement is under discussion, whether a faculty-level arrangement exists even without a university-wide one, and whether a summer school or short research placement is available instead. Where nothing exists, a full scholarship for a whole degree may be the more realistic route — those are covered on the graduate school page, with an overview of both paths on the scholarships page.