italki

The JLPT is great, but what are they doing with $50 million of our test fees? Statistics for the December JLPT exam were announced and apparently over 1,000,000 people took the exam. In Japan, it costs ¥7500 which is just under $50 but in some countries it costs as low as $25 but then in others goes even to $100 (including China at $60) so it’s safe to say the average is probably around $50. So with over 1,000,000 examinees, the JLPT gets a nice $50 million from people taking the test. But where exactly does that money go? The test is only twice a year, and is only half a day. Of course there are all the locations to book, staff used and processing fees. With my experience holding the EIKEN exam in my school, I’m sure staff and building costs are low because they will ask the staff who work at the universities the exam is held to be the ones to manage it. Basically we would hold the EIKEN exam for free, but we would keep about 10% of the test fees. I’m not sure about other locations. The test is largely unchanged since I came to Japan. The same 5 levels, basically same routine, same format etc. Apparently the Japan Educational Exchanges and Services (JEES) company that hosts the exam in Japan is a not for profit company that invests its money back into student support grants and investment into education. I wonder exactly where it all goes? Because even if half the money is used to processing, staff and buildings etc, that’s still $25 million a year invested somewhere. With the test fees going up last year (and probably will go up again next year), along with the government pushing for JLPT levels (or equivalent) to get a visa, one does wonder about the income generated. This is not a massively seriously deep or intetesting post today but I was trying to think last night where all the money goes haha. This is just where my mind wanders sometimes. Let me know what you think!