Japanese courts in major cities have issued rulings on prepaid tuition fees at private higher education institutions: to be returned or not. Referring to several elite and other private institutions, the Tokyo District Court sentenced them to return the prepaid tuition to students who did not enroll, though they had been admitted. A similar judgment was made in Kyoto District Court but not in Osaka District Court, due to a university guideline articulating a non-refund policy. Seeking the most prestigious institution to which they can aspire, new entrants are often forced to prepay entrance fees and first-year tuition to multiple universities once they are admitted by the institutions.