Govt to freeze standard fee for national universities

The government plans to leave unchanged the annual tuition fee of 535,800 yen it sets as a standard charge for national universities until the 2009 academic year, when the period of the current midterm plan stipulated by the National University Corporation Law ends, government sources said Sunday.

By keeping the standard charge at the current level for academic year 2007, the government aims to persuade national universities not to raise their tuition fees and to lay the groundwork for them to introduce their own fee-reducing initiatives, the sources said.

The freeze on the standard charge will be formally approved when the education budget is compiled for the 2007 academic year.

It is conventional practice for national universities to raise their tuition fees every two years.

In academic year 2004, national universities transformed themselves into incorporated entities under the National University Corporation Law in return for greater independence.

National universities used to charge uniform tuition fees, but after they became incorporated entities, they were allowed to set their own tuition fees within an upper limit of 10 percent of the government-set standard charge.

However, since a rise in standard charges is linked to cuts in state subsidies, many national universities kept their tuition fees at the same level as the standard charge when it was raised for academic year 2005.

At present, 81 of the nation's 89 national universities' tuition fees are the same as the standard charge, with six charging less and two national universities' special research courses charging more than the standard charge.

Masuo Aizawa, chairman of the Japan Association of National Universities and president of Tokyo Institute of Technology, said if the standard charge was increased every two years there would be little leeway left for national universities to set their own tuition fees.

As such, the government decided to put on hold the increase in standard charges for academic year 2007, a year that should have followed the conventional practice to raise the standard charge, the sources said.

With the standard charge frozen, many national universities likely will keep their tuition fees at current levels for the time being.

Until academic year 2009, incorporated national universities will be able to run their operations with more freedom, which might lead some of them to take the initiative in raising or reducing their tuition fees.

Due to the nation's low birthrate and aging society, it has become more difficult for universities to lure students. Therefore, famous universities may raise tuition fees to improve their research facilities to attract more students, while other universities may lower their tuition fees.

When the new university system was launched in 1949, the tuition fee for national universities was a uniform 3,600 yen. It increased 10-fold to 36,000 yen in 1972.

Since then, it has continued increasing due to rising food prices and the need to narrow the tuition gap between national and private universities.
(Dec. 18, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20061218TDY02008.htm

Private university enrolls 2 men in 1st 'refugee' quota admission

Kwansei Gakuin University accepted two men from Vietnam and Myanmar as new students in undergraduate programs from April as the first cases in Japan of a "refugee quota" admission established after an agreement with the United Nations refugee agency to promote tertiary school education for refugees.

The private university, based in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, said the two new students will be entirely waived of tuition payments and entitled to 50,000 to 80,000 yen per month in scholarship.

The man from Myanmar, 37, lives in Tokyo and works for an information technology-related company, the university said. He will enter the School of Policy Studies of the university.

The Vietnamese man, 22, who lives in Kobe, will enter the School of Economics.

The university has declined to disclose further details about the prospective students.

The university agreed with the Japan office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in May to begin admitting two refugees recommended by the UNHCR each school year.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061214/kyodo/d8m0ggc00.html

Famous Yoyogi Animation school applies for rehabilitation

The famous Yoyogi Animation Gakuin school has applied for financial rehabilitation, according to its president.

Yoyogi Animation Gakuin is the largest school of its kind in Japan. Yoyogi Live Animation in Tokyo's Shibuya-ku, which runs the school, applied for corporate rehabilitation under the Civil Rehabilitation Law.

"I wanted to prevent young students from being deprived of their dreams," said the president.
The company reportedly has incurred debts of some 2.3 billion yen. Of that figure, about 1 billion yen is unpaid taxes.

Officials from the company said that they would try to cut costs to reconstruct the firm's finances, while they expect that the number of students would possibly drop. (Mainichi)

December 14, 2006
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20061214p2a00m0et019000c.html

Number of foreign students in Japan down for 1st time in 9 yrs

The number of foreign students studying in Japan decreased to 117,927 this year -- the first fall in nine years -- but the figure was still the second highest after a record 121,812 last year, a poll by the Japan Student Services Organization showed Wednesday.

By country, students from China formed the largest proportion, totaling 74,292, down 7.8 percent from a year earlier, while the number of students from Vietnam, which ranked fifth, rose 21.4 percent year-on-year to 2,119, according to the survey as of May 1.

South Korea came second with 15,974 students, up 2.4 percent, Taiwan came third with 4,211, up 1.9 percent, and Malaysia came fourth with 2,156 students, up 2.0 percent, according to the poll.

Japan's academic year starts April 1.

Of the total, 63,437 students were studying at universities, down 2.1 percent, 30,910 were attending graduate schools, up 2.1 percent, and 21,562 were studying at vocational schools, down 14.4 percent, it said.

Tokyo hosted 39,520 foreign students, by far the largest number for the nation's 47 prefectures. Osaka Prefecture had 9,986, Aichi 5,905 and Fukuoka 5,820.

The University of Tokyo was the most popular school among foreign students at universities, with 2,197 studying there, edging Waseda University which had 2,190 foreign students.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061213/kyodo/d8lvsml80.html

Stipends for Chinese students

Toyota Motor Corp. held a stipend presentation ceremony at Ningxia University in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region on Wednesday to offer assistance to students in midwestern China facing financial difficulties that stop them from entering university.

The Toyota Study Assistance Fund, which extends such assistance, will target one university in each of 20 provincial, municipal and autonomous regions in midwestern China, with stipends available for 10 first-year students a year per university, consisting of an annual amount of 5,000 yuan (about 73,000 yen) for four years.

Toyota said it plans to offer financial assistance to 1,000 university students through the fund over a five-year period to 2010--200 students per year. The entire fund is valued at 20 million yuan (about 292 million yen).

The Toyota Study Assistance Fund was established in March jointly with the Soong Ching Ling Foundation, one of China's oldest community service organizations.

It was established in May 1982 in memory of Soong Ching Ling, the late honorary president of China.
(Dec. 7, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/business/20061207TDY08008.htm