Oversupply of Japanese Universities

[Niko]

Japanese Universities sail into rough waters

Japan has 709 universities, 508 junior colleges and more than 1000 other specialist institutions.

There are now about 120,000 foreign students at Japanese higher education institutions, or 3% of the total student population. But the number of foreigners has doubled in the past 6 years.

According to Onuma, who heads the Private Universities Association of Japan, most foreign students are getting a 30% fee subsidised by the national government, but even then tuition fees make Japan an expensive place to study.

Peter Mathias, a British academic member of Keio University's new International Advisory Committee, recently warned that recruiting more foreign students would be the key to the survival of some universities as Japan's population fell.

Japanese private universities receive 5.4% of their funding from donations or endowment income and only 11.7% from the government. In the US the comparable figures are 14.3% from donations and 16.4% from the government.

While tax deductions for donations have been improved, Japanese companies are under pressure to cut back on their already modest donations, which will put even more pressure on universities to manage their assets better.

While most specialty schools still have good demand from students, the junior colleges (which offer 2-year general education programs) are in greater trouble as more than half are unable to fill their places even though several have tried to go upmarket by converting to 4-year university status.

The financial health of the higher education sector has deteriorated dramatically in recent years and a third of institutions now report that spending exceeds revenue compared with only 15% six years ago.