Can arubaito sustain me while at university?

My goal is to live in Japan on a long term, or permanently if possible. I am planning to first study Nihongo while working part-time to pay for my tuition (installment basis) and living expenses. There is a work-study program that I will be joining for this arrangement.

After I graduate with sufficient Japanese language skills (hopefully in 1-2 years), I would like to extend my student visa and pursue a university course and eventually earn a degree, all while continuing to work part-time. Do you think I will be able to sustain myself, paying for tuition and my living expenses with money earned from working part-time?

Once I get a degree, I plan on getting a work visa so I can finally work full-time.

If getting a university degree is too expensive, would getting a vocational/associate's degree be a more feasible option, and can I still be qualified for a work visa with it?

There is a work-study program that I will be joining for this arrangement.

Be very, very, very careful. Many of these are exploitative organizations.
One of the former staff members in my office used to work for such a "school", before she worked out what they were doing. Students had to study 9 - 5, then work in a factory 6pm - 3am. The school gave them a small allowance for snacks etc, and forced students to hand over their passports "for safe keeping". It was completely illegal, but it seems many more companies are doing such a thing nowadays.

Why not get a degree taught in English? There are dozens of them nowadays, aimed at people like you. You study in English, while learning Japanese at the same time. Several programs are offered by national universities, including ToDai, so you know it's not a scam.

However, realistically, although part-time work can definitely help you with expenses, unless you have sufficient funds to pay at least some of your expenses it's going to be hard. It is not easy to get a work visa with less than a Bachelor's degree, although not impossible, and it seems the government is looking to relax the rules. However, with less than a degree, it's likely you'd be relegated to a life of low-paying jobs. Japan needs highly skilled people - so look at a degree as an investment in your future.

I have one student who's lived in Japan working those crappy jobs for a decade. He has grasped the opportunity of getting a degree with both hands - he knows it's the only way out of a life of poverty.

As the above poster said, be EXTREMELY careful when choosing such a Japanese language school work-study program. I would be very, very cautious about how much debt you will be going into and how much they will expect you to work. I think that it would actually be better to choose a Japanese language school separately and pay for it yourself, rather than put yourself into indentured servitude. For reference, check some of the scandals that have been happening recently:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/01/03/national/social-issues/exp...

Currently the rate for part-time English teaching is generally 2500-3000 yen per hour, and you are allowed to work up to 28 hours a week on a student visa, so you can make quite a decent income if you work at multiple English academies/classrooms. Other part-time jobs do not pay nearly as much, however. I doubt that the program you are planning to go into will let you choose which job to work.

I recommend applying for scholarships to study Japanese. There are lots of opportunities through organizations like MEXT and JASSO. If you don't have a scholarship, I think that financing your school and housing yourself through independently-acquired student loans, and working at a job of your choice, would be MUCH better than a potentially predatory work-study program.

http://www.mext.go.jp/component/a_menu/education/detail/__icsFiles/afi...

http://www.jasso.go.jp/en/study_j/scholarships/

Don't you have a "Wroking Holiday" option?

On a Working Holiday", you can study Japanese even without going to the language school.
There are many inexpensive (or even free) Japanese classes by municipality.
http://u-biq.org/volunteermap.html

You can also earn more than "student visa and a work permission" way, because it allows you to work up to 28hours per week and it definitely not enough to sustain your expense for studying and living.
http://ishijls.blog.fc2.com/blog-category-1.html

Wow, thank you so much for all the helpful information. A lot of these are eye-openers for me.

@Dainichi Heater
Thank you for the warning. Yes, I have studied the program details carefully and while they do not have that type of arrangement (long working hours, keeping passports), I have realized it may not be the best option for me as I don't have much freedom in choosing the school and job.

"Why not get a degree taught in English?"
-Hmm that's a good suggestion. I will try to do more research on which schools offer English courses with affordable tuition. (hey if you know a few, could you let me know?)

"look at a degree as an investment in your future."
-You are absolutely right. That is why I intend to pursue a degree course after I learn Nihongo. But now that you've opened to me the possibility of enrolling in an English-taught degree course, I might actually just pursue the latter!

@Gigi
Thank you for the warning. I have indeed read the japan times article so I am being extra careful about the programs that I'm seeing.

"I think that it would actually be better to choose a Japanese language school separately and pay for it yourself, rather than put yourself into indentured servitude."
-A good suggestion, which I am also considering. That way I don't have to pay exorbitant "processing fees" to these programs. However that would mean having to process all the paperwork for COE, visa, enrolment and part time job applications myself! That will be very challenging, and I have yet to figure out if that is something I can do.

"Currently the rate for part-time English teaching is generally 2500-3000 yen per hour"
-Would you happen to know if they accept applicants without a degree? I have a bit of experience teaching ESL to Japanese students online, but I have only finished 2 years of college (undergraduate).

"I recommend applying for scholarships to study Japanese."
-I have actually tried applying for MEXT before for a special training scholarship. I managed to pass the documentation screening, written exams and panel interview however my application did not pass the next screening (no reason provided, i think it may have been that my choice of study is not a priority and did not meet the budget cut - it was filmmaking). Unfortunately now I don't think I'm still eligible for such scholarships since they require applicants to be currently enrolled at a university (which I am not).

@Room516
"Don't you have a "Wroking Holiday" option?"
Unfortunately I am Philippine passport holder so I don't have this option.

But I never knew there were cheap/free Japanese classes available. Thanks for this tip!

Please be careful when planning the finance. To be eligible for a "student" visa, you need to be able to show that you have sufficient funds to support your living during your studies. Also with most schools you need to pay in the tuition for a term, for example, upfront. (The part-time job is just to help you "supplement" your living expenses.)

The school will definitely help you with the CoE application process.

English programs

Just from the top of my head

Hokkaido (Japanese studies) https://www.oia.hokudai.ac.jp/mjsp/
Akita International U - http://web.aiu.ac.jp/en/
Tohoku U - http://www.fgl.tohoku.ac.jp/
Tsukuba - http://www.global.tsukuba.ac.jp/
Tokyo - https://peak.c.u-tokyo.ac.jp/
Toyo Univ - https://www.toyo.ac.jp/site/english-dp/
Tokyo International U - https://www.tiu.ac.jp/english2/
Waseda - https://web.waseda.jp/admission/en/
Nagoya - http://admissions.g30.nagoya-u.ac.jp/
Keio - http://ic.sfc.keio.ac.jp/ja/
Aizu (Computer science) - http://www.u-aizu.ac.jp/en/
Osaka - http://cbcmp.icou.osaka-u.ac.jp/
Ritsumeikan - http://en.ritsumei.ac.jp/e-ug/
Doshisha - http://intad.doshisha.ac.jp/en/inbound/offered_english.html
Okayama - http://discovery.okayama-u.ac.jp/en/
Kyushu - http://www.isc.kyushu-u.ac.jp/g30/
Asia Pacific U - http://en.apu.ac.jp/home/

There are more, but that's a start.

To be honest, if you were thinking about signing contracts, and you didn't know about English programs, then you hadn't done enough research. Google is your friend.