Admissions Policy
The following types of entrance exams are available for Master and Doctoral Programs (Graduate School of Modern Economics and Business) and Accounting School.

Graduate School of Modern Economics and Business

Master’s Program

【Important】The discontinuation of the Special Entrance Exam for international applicants (effective from AY 2024)

【Important】English Proficiency Test Scores required for the General Entrance Exam and the Special Exam for Working Adult Applicants (effective from AY 2024)

Advance Consent to Official Application

【Attention】Applicants who wish to apply for the entrance exams below under the master’s program at Hokkaido University Graduate School of Economics and Business need to obtain an advance consent from the prospective supervisor before filing an application.
※Current HU Research students are also required to take this procedures.

〇Required Division / Program / Type of entrance exam

Division of Modern Economics and Business/ Master’s Program / General Exam

Division of Modern Economics and Business/ Master’s Program / Special Exam for Working Adults

【Steps to obtain advance consent to official application】

updated 05/09/2024

１．Choose your expected supervisor

Please refer to “the list of available faculty members (as of FY2025)” and choose prospective supervisor(s).

For details about research fields of our faculty, please refer to “Faculty Members of Graduate School of Economics and Business Administration” and“Researchers’ List of Hokkaido University”.

２．Apply to the advance consent

○Period of application for an advance consent:
1st round (for April 2025 intake): May 10 (Fri.) ~ May 22 (Wed.), 2024 【strict deadline】
2nd round (for April 2025 intake): Early October ~ Late October, 2024【TBD】

○Submission materials：

To apply for Master’s program, applicants must obtain informal approval from a faculty member.
To obtain informal approval, do not contact the faculty member directly, firstly prepare a research plan and submit via Pre-admission Support System.

Research Plan　Word

Upload the PDF file to the “Research Plan” section of the Pre-Admission System.

For details about required documents and procedures, please refer to「About the informal approval」

 

Pre-Admission Support System : https://futuregrad.oia.hokudai.ac.jp/admissions/pss/

Pre-Admission Support System Registration：https://pre-admission.oia.hokudai.ac.jp/

1. Please note that if the documents are incomplete or insufficient, or if they are not submitted within the application period, no application will be accepted.

    

   ○Results of screening：
   
   1st round (for April 2025 intake): around June 25 (Tue.)
   2nd round (for April 2025 intake): around November 20 (Wed.)

   ３．Official Application for the entrance exam

   Only for those who have obtained the advance consent can proceed to the online application for the entrance exam.

General Exam(Doctoral Course and Specialized Course)

Type of Exam / Subjects

• Written exams (except for Special Exam)
• Interviews
• Certification on foreign language proficiency

Application Guide	Application Period
1st and 2nd Term Special Exam (2025 academic year)	1st Term：2/MAY/2024～8/MAY/2024 2nd Term：21/OCT/2024～24/OCT/2024
1st Term General Exam(2025 academic year)	Online Application：2/JUL/2024～8/JUL/2024 Application must be reached to office by: 12/JUL/2024
2nd Term General Exam(2025 academic year)（TBD）	TBD （To be announced on this website.）
2nd Term General Exam(2024 academic year)	（Reference：Schedule in previous year） Online Application：23/11/27～12/1 Application must be reached to office by：5/DEC/2023

Doctoral Program

Name of Exam

General Exam

Type of Exam / Subjects

• Interviews

Application Guide	Application Period
Special Exam (2024 academic year) (beginning in October 2024)	Application through postal mailApplication must be reached to office between 2/MAY/2024～8/MAY/2024
General Exam (2024) (beginning in October 2024)
Special Exam (2025 academic year)（TBD）	TBD
General Exam (2025 academic year)（TBD）	TBD
Special Exam (2024 academic year)	（Reference：Schedule in previous year） 27/NOV/2023～1/DEC/2023
General Exam (2024 academic year)	（Reference：Schedule in previous year） Online Application：27/NOV/2023～1/DEC/2023 Application through postal mail：5/DEC/2023

Special Entrance Exam for Advanced Professionals

Type of Exam / Subjects

• 1st step: Applicant Screening
• 2nd step: Interviews

Special Entrance Exam for Advanced Professionals 2nd step: Interviews

Application Guide	Application Period
Special Entrance Exam for Advanced Professionals (2025 academic year)	Application must be reached to office within 8 / APR / 2024 – 11 / APR / 2024; 24 / JUN /2024 – 28 / JUN / 2024; 7 / OCT /2024 – 11 / OCT / 2024; 2 / DEC /2024 – 6 / DEC / 2024;

 

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Past Exam

Professional Degree Program

See the page “Entrance Exam” at the Accounting School.

Preliminary Review of Application Qualifications

We are open to persons with various background, including those who have not graduated (are not expected to graduate) from 4-year universities. The following persons may be admitted to take entrance exams. We kindly ask those persons to apply for “Preliminary Review for Eligibility for Application (applicant screening and interviews if necessary).”

• Graduates from 2-year college, colleges of technology (kosen), and other kinds of schools.
• Those not having bachelor degree, such as graduates from Japanese branches of foreign universities.
• Those completing (or expected to complete)16 years of education in foreign education systems, including correspondence schools.
• Those in 3rd grade in universities completing the prescribed amount of credits with excellent grades.
• Those the Graduate School of Economics and Business admits to have at least the same level of fundamental knowledge as the graduates from universities.