Unlike many of their counterparts in the United States, however, most Japanese students do not work to pay for their tuition and living expenses. Most depend on their parents for these and are able to use the money they earn from their part-time jobs for leisure activities, such as travel abroad during the summer or winter vacation. This is not to say that there are no Japanese students who work to support themselves and pay for tuition. Thus, only a small number of Japanese students from homes with severely limited financial resources are able to attend college. In addition to the financial benefits, working part-time has another meaning for Japanese students.
Most high schools prohibit or strongly restrict students from working part-time.
Thus, the college years are often the first time that Japanese students are able to experience having a job and managing money that they have earned themselves. Japanese college students who actively participate in club activities are often criticized by American observers for not being serious about their studies. This view is not too far wrong if applied only to the first two years of college in Japan, which are spent on the study of general subjects. The size of these classes varies from one university to another and, within the same university, from one department to another. In national schools the average class size is usually fewer than 40 students.