Free Higher Education and Placing Regional Private University under Public Management
According to the reference materials: “Future Vision for Higher Education”, officially announced by Ministry of Education in 2018 and “Announcement of Report on School Basic Survey(final value) in the 30th Year of the Heisei Period”, the 18-year-old population will shrink from 2.05 million in peak 1992 to 1.18 million in 2018, and to 1.03 million in 2030. In contrast, university entrance rate increased from 24.8% in 1989 to 53.3% in 2018, and percentage of students proceeding to higher education (including university, college, and technical college) reached 81.5% in 2018, both of which were the highest records.
The number of universities increased from 499 in 1989 to 782 in 2018. There is no doubt that university admission quota increase has affected the rising of university entrance rate. But the development of higher education confronts the hard reality that the 18-year-old population will further decrease in the future.
The burden of higher educational expenses in Japan depends on household budget, unlike Nordic countries. According to the reference materials: “Percentage of Students Proceeding to Higher Education by Income Class”, submitted to the Financial System Subcommittee by Ministry of Finance, income inequality reflects inequality in university entrance ratio or in percentage of students proceeding to higher education.
The government announced free higher education and educational burden reduction policy as part of social security reform for all generations in the report: “New Economic Policy Package”, and planned to enforce such policies in April 2020, using the consumption tax hike to 10% as a financial source.
According to the Free Higher Education Law enacted on May 10, 2019, the government must reduce tuition and enrollment, and pay benefit scholarships that do not require repayment. Students from resident-tax exempt households and low income (i.e. annual income of less than 3.8 million yen) households are eligible for the scholarships.
From the viewpoint of equal educational opportunity, these measures can be evaluated, but there are concerns that concentration of students in metropolitan areas and acceleration of excess students outflow from local areas will happen. (The Daiwa-Soken Report: “Where Are the Students Flowing out by Free Higher Education” on April 5, 2019.)
(Author: Masatoshi Katagiri)
This essay is the English version of No. 13, May 15, 2019 on the Japanese website.