Strengths and Weakness of Public and Private Universities- A View from Japan -

Kintomo Takakura, M.D., Ph.D.President

Tokyo Women’s Medical University

Population Japan

2003 127,619 thousand

Male 62,304

Female 65,315

2007 127,741 (Peak)

Number of Schools (2004)

School Number Number of Students

Kindergarten (2-3Y) 14,061 1,753

Primary School (6) 23,420 7,200

Junior High School (3) 11,102 3,663

Senior High School (3) 5,429 3,919

University (4-6) 709 2,809

Collage (2-3) 508 233

Post-graduate School (2-4) (700) 244

(x 1000)

University Japan

Public 167

National 87

Local Government

(City, Prefecture)

80

Private 542

Total 709

Number of Students (2004)

Male Female

Public National 624 411 212

Local Gov. 122 61 61

Private 2,062 1,235 826

Total 2,809 1,708 1,100

(x 1000)

Foreign Students

2004 1990

Univ. Under gr.

(709)

117,302 41,347

Post gr. School

(545)

29,514 12,249

Post-graduate School (2004)Number of StudentsTotal 244,026 (m : f = 173:71)

Cultural Science 20,782 (10:11)

Social Science 36,526 (25:12)

Natural Science 20,315 (16: 4)

Technology 78,819 (71: 8)

Agriculture 12,691 ( 6: 4)

Health Science 34,119 (21:13)

Education 13,271 (69:68)

Art 4,584 (18:28)

Others 21,913 (13: 8)

UniversityPublic

NationalThe Univ. of TokyoKyoto Univ. etc.

Local GovernmentalMetropolitan Univ. of TokyoOsaka City Univ. etc.

PrivateWaseda Univ.Keio Univ.

THE UNIV. OF TOKYONational

Established in 1877

Faculty 10

Institute 16

Students

Undergraduate15,074

Graduate 13,185

WASEDA UNIV.Private

Established in 1882

Faculty 10

Students

Undergraduate45,334

Graduate 7,273

TOKYO WOMEN’S MEDICAL UNIVERSITY(TWMU) Private

Established in 1900

Faculty 2

Students

Medicine 600

Nursing 360

Post graduate 200

TWMU

Campus 2

Hospital 5

Doctors 1200

Bed 2000

Patients (Outpatients) 7000/day

Annual Budget US$ 0.9 Bil

Governmental Support for Univ. Management (2003)

Public (87) US$ 11.7 Bil.

Private (542) US$ 3.1 Bil.

Finance

The Univ. of Tokyo

Waseda Univ.

No. of Students 15,074 45,149

Budget US$ 1.46 Bil. US$ 0.86 Bil.

Government 1.03 0.11

Tuition 0.15 0.55

Others 0.28 0.20

Researchers (2004)

National Univ. 131,100

Local Gov. Univ. 22,000

Private Univ. 131,000

Total 284,000

Research Budget

2003 Ratio/GDP

U.S.A. US$ 310 Billion 2.6%

EU 210 1.99

JAPAN 168 3.35

Research Budgetfor Science and Technology 2003

Research Total Univ. Industry

Basic 15.0% 55.0% 6.0%

Applied 23.0 36.5 19.4

Developmental 62.0 8.5 74.7

Strengths of Public University

More financial Support from the government

Low Tuition

Strong historical background

Weakness of Public University

Strong control by government No flexibility of finance Less identity of University Less free arrangement of researches

with private industries or enterprises

Strengths of Private University Strong identity of university Independent from governmental

control Strong alumni consciousness Free arrangement of research works

and education with industries or enterprises

Weakness of Private University

Weak financial support from government

Higher tuition Three times more students than public

university Broad variety of the quality of students

Change of Organization (2004)

National (Federal) University

Independent University

(Gradual Transformation)

Conclusion1. There are 167 public (87 national, and 80 local

governmental) and 542 private universities in Japan.

2. Population of Japan is 127 million.

3. There are 624 thousand students in national, 122 thousand in local governmental and 2,062 thousand in private universities.

4. There are 244,026 students in the postgraduate schools in universities.

5. Financial support from the Government in 2004 was 11.7 billion US dollars to 87 national and 3.1 billion to 542 private universities.

Conclusion6. Examples of national (the Univ. of Tokyo) and private

universities (Waseda University and our Tokyo Women’s Medical University) were introduced.

7. There were 284,000 researchers in 2003. The total budget of researches for science and technology in 2003 was 168 billion US dollars.

8. Government has decided to reform the system of national university to financially independent universities, similar to private universities in 2004. And the financial support from the government will decrease gradually in the coming years.