Second Year of High School Tuition-Free Policy: 60% of Parents Say Their High School Options Have Expanded, Survey by Meiko Gijuku, “Survey on High School Selection Among Parents of Third-Year Junior High School Students”

The survey was conducted among 1,000 parents of ninth-grade middle school students to clarify the circumstances of families planning for their children to enter high school in April 2027. As high school tuition-free programs expand, the survey confirmed that many families make decisions about their children's educational paths based on the children's own preferences.

In Overview of Results 1, 56.9% cited the child's own preference as the most important factor when choosing a high school, while 57.1% said they placed importance on the child's own wishes when deciding on a preferred school, indicating a strong tendency in both cases. A total of 45.1% of parents felt that they were now more likely to choose a private high school than they had been based on the experience of older siblings.

In Overview of Results 2, 60.0% of parents said that tuition-free education had broadened their options when choosing a high school. Among costs other than private high school tuition, the most frequently identified item was school trips and school event costs (66.3%), followed by admission fees at 66.1% and uniform costs at 65.1%.

In Overview of Results 3 and the questions that followed, 56.7% of parents said they were concerned about the reorganization, consolidation and closure of public high schools, while 57.2% believed that continued consolidation and school closures would affect high school selection. The results show strong interest in concerns and potential impacts beyond costs.

Overall, the findings suggest that families' educational choices are affected not only by the direct impact of tuition-free education, but also by the burden of costs other than tuition and developments in the reorganization of public schools.