No Written Exam! All-in on Practical Skills! Iwasaki Gakuen Launches 'IT Technical Scholarship Admission' Investing Up to 1.46 Million Yen

Iwasaki Gakuen (Kanagawa Ward, Yokohama City) will establish a new "IT Technical Scholarship Admission [Programming Special Selection]" for entrants to the College of Information Science in April 2027. This is a new scholarship system targeting "sharp individuals" with outstanding IT skills, who could not be fully evaluated by conventional balanced scholarship systems.

## Background: The Acceleration of AI Society and the Demand for "Sharp Technical Skills"

Currently, our society is undergoing a major transformation due to the explosive evolution of technology, including generative AI. In this era where routine knowledge and balanced general-purpose skills are being replaced by digital technology, what truly holds value are "sharp individuals" who can deeply explore technology driven by their own curiosity and give form to ideas that break existing frameworks.

However, Japan's traditional education and entrance examination systems still strongly tend to evaluate "honor students" who can handle all subjects without difficulty. There is a social issue where "outstanding talents" who pour overwhelming passion into specific fields and develop advanced products through self-study since high school are not adequately recognized. Even as approximately 60% of private university entrants use school recommendation or comprehensive selection, making year-end admissions mainstream, many selection processes still seek balanced excellence, and mechanisms to evaluate "sharpness" specialized in technical skills are currently insufficient.

## As a Third Option, Not "University" or "Vocational School"

Among students who re-enrolled in our academy after university, many confess, "I went to a famous university, but I was so busy with general education that I couldn't get enough time to immerse myself in creation." What they need is an environment where they can write code for even one second longer, meet peers with similar passion, solve "real-world problems" faced by their surroundings and companies with their technical skills, and immediately integrate them as part of society.

Since the opening of the College of Information Science over 40 years ago, our academy has continuously engaged with the passion of such "IT-focused students." The newly established "IT Technical Scholarship Admission" is not just a scholarship system.

We believe it is an "investment" by the entire academy to properly acknowledge the "pride in technology" that students have built up, rather than uniform metrics like deviation scores or grades, and to nurture them as "assets to society" as next-generation engineers.

From Yokohama Minato Mirai, a hub for IT companies, we aim to fully support "sharp talents" who will pioneer the future of AI society, contributing to accelerating DX in Japan and around the world.

## Four Features of "IT Technical Scholarship Admission" (※Please refer to the student application guidelines for details)

### 1. No academic exams or presentations. Selection that maximizes evaluation of technical skills

The selection process will not include written exams or presentations. It will primarily evaluate technical skills and dedication based on a practical programming exam on the day, and self-produced works/source code (optional submission).

### 2. Maximum 1.46 million yen in financial backup (first year tuition effectively 0 yen)

We fully support "sharp talents" financially. In addition to tuition reduction (860,000 yen), an "IT Activity Support Fund" will be provided to allow students to immerse themselves in creation. A total of up to 1.46 million yen in support will be offered, providing a chance for the first year's tuition to be effectively free.

### 3. "Special Program" and high-level community after enrollment

Successful applicants will be granted "eligibility to participate in special programs" tailored to their individual technical level, including individual mentoring by engineering faculty, priority participation in industry-academia collaboration projects, and access to classes for advanced years or graduate school (Graduate School of Information Security). We also support networking with peers who can inspire each other, such as through the advanced technology club "IPFactory."

### 4. "Living Support Fund" to assist challenges from rural areas

A 480,000 yen living support fund is available for students enrolling from outside Kanagawa Prefecture and Tokyo. This ensures that talented young people can access the IT hub of Yokohama Minato Mirai, regardless of their place of residence.

### Desired Candidate Profile: Examples of "Sharp Individuals"

- Interested in the mechanisms of things like games, smartphones, and PCs, and has disassembled or observed them out of curiosity.
- Has published self-created program code on GitHub or similar platforms.
- Has created works using generative AI SDKs.
- Has built and operated their own server.
- Has participated in contests or hackathons.
- Has experienced being so engrossed in writing programs that they lost track of time.
- Does not have peers around them with the same motivation to improve technical skills together.

IT Technical Scholarship Admission Special Site

Iwasaki Gakuen

Founded in 1927.
Focusing on specialized school education in IT, fashion, design, sports, childcare, rehabilitation, medical administration, and nursing, it also operates a graduate school for fostering information security professionals, supports NPOs, runs museums and other regional development projects, and provides re-employment support and childcare support services.

● Educational Business
- Graduate School Education, Specialized School Education
(Graduate School of Information Security, Yokohama f College, College of Information Science, Yokohama Sports & Medical Wellness College, Yokohama Digital Arts College, Yokohama Rehabilitation College, Yokohama Childcare & Welfare College, Yokohama Practical Nursing College)

- Early Childhood Education
(Iwasaki Gakuen Higashi-Totsuka Nursery School, Iwasaki Gakuen Shin-Yokohama Nursery School, Iwasaki Gakuen Shin-Yokohama Daini Nursery School, Iwasaki Gakuen Shinnocho After-School Children's Club [Daichi]･[Ozora], Iwasaki Gakuen Shin-Yokohama After-School Children's Club, Iwasaki Gakuen Affiliated Kindergarten, Iwasaki Gakuen Affiliated Isogo Kindergarten)

- Cultural Business
Iwasaki Museum (Goethe-za Memorial), Specified Non-Profit Organization NPO Information Security Forum

- Lifelong Education
Lifelong Learning Center, Re-employment Support Training

- Number of Students/Children: 5,117 (as of May 1, 2025)
- Number of Faculty/Staff: 711 (as of May 2025)
- Gakuen Headquarters: Sotetsu Iwasaki Gakuen Building, 2-17 Tsuruya-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
- HP: https://www.iwasaki.ac.jp/index.html