There were 117,302 foreign students in Japan as of May 1, but the pace at which they are entering Japan has slowed because universities are tightening admissions criteria, a survey by a student-support organization showed Friday.

The Japan Student Services Organization, an independent administrative agency that provides education information to international and Japanese students, said the number of foreign students has grown by 7,794, or 7.1 percent, from a year earlier but that the year-on-year growth rate has fallen from 21.2 percent in 2002 and 14.6 percent in 2003.

Analysts said the move to tighten admissions for foreign students resulted from a report last December by the Central Education Council, which called for making the college admissions process more stringent in light of the number of foreign students who become illegal workers.

The report by the council, part of the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry, says that universities should confirm students' intentions and evaluate their academic capabilities more effectively.

According to a rough breakdown by the organization, about 62,300 of the foreign students in Japan are university, junior and technical college students, while about 29,500 are graduate students. Some 23,800 other students are attending advanced vocational schools.

Among them, 50.8 percent were male. The proportion of women rose by 0.4 point over the previous year, it said.

Students from China topped the list with 77,713, up 9.7 percentage points, followed by South Korea with 15,533, down 2.1 points, and Taiwan with 4,096, down 3.3 points, the survey showed. More than 93 percent are from Asia.

By university, the University of Tokyo topped the list for hosting foreign students in Japan, at 2,056.