Private universities tie up with high schools

Private universities are scrambling to form tie-ups with junior and senior high schools to secure future students--and survival--amid the falling birthrate, school officials said.

Some universities are tying up with schools other than their affiliates, including public schools, to make up for the shrinking enrollment, they said.

Under certain conditions, private universities will grant admission to students from affiliated schools without having them take admission exams, giving the students an easier route to a college education, the officials said.

Chuo University High School, a private school affiliated with Chuo University, and adjacent Daisan (No. 3) Junior High School, a public school run by Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, are working out a tie-up contract.

Under the plan, which would mark the first such contract between private and public schools, at least 10 or more students at the Daisan Junior High School can enroll at Chuo University High School without taking the entrance examination. The new system is expected to start from the 2009 school year.

Since almost all students at the private high school who meet the necessary conditions can enroll at Chuo University, the new system will give qualified students at Daisan Junior High School entry into Chuo University without any admission exams.

The junior high school has 95 students.

The tie-ups are more common in the Kansai region.

Kwansei Gakuin University, a private university based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, formed an affiliation with three junior and senior high schools in January.

Those secondary schools in the 2007 academic year will introduce classes designed for enrollment at the university. The students who pass those classes will, in principle, be allowed to attend the university.

Similar deals were struck with several other junior and senior high schools.

Kyoto Sangyo University reached agreement in March to make Kyoto Seian Junior and Senior High schools its affiliates starting next April.(IHT/Asahi: July 13,2006

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