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
(x 1000)
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
(700)
244
Post-graduate School (2-4)
University Japan
Public
National
Local Government
(City, Prefecture)
Private
Total
167
87
80
542
709
Number of Students (2004)
(x 1000)
Public
Private
Total
National
Local Gov.
624
122
2,062
2,809
Male Female
411
212
61
61
1,235
826
1,708 1,100
Foreign Students
Univ. Under gr.
(709)
Post gr. School
(545)
2004
1990
117,302 41,347
29,514 12,249
Post-graduate School (2004)
Number of Students
Total
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)
4,584
(18:28)
21,913
(13: 8)
Art
Others
University
Public
National
The Univ. of Tokyo
Kyoto Univ.
etc.
Local Governmental
Metropolitan Univ. of Tokyo
Osaka City Univ.
etc.
Private
Waseda Univ.
Keio Univ.
THE UNIV. OF TOKYO
National
Established in 1877
Faculty
10
Institute
16
Students
Undergraduate
Graduate
15,074
13,185
WASEDA UNIV.
Private
Established in 1882
Faculty
10
Students
Undergraduate
Graduate
45,334
7,273
TOKYO WOMEN’S MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
(TWMU) Private
Established in 1900
Faculty
2
Students
Medicine
Nursing
Post graduate
600
360
200
TWMU
Campus
Hospital
Doctors
Bed
Patients (Outpatients)
Annual Budget
2
5
1200
2000
7000/day
US$ 0.9 Bil
Governmental Support
for Univ. Management (2003)
Public (87)
Private (542)
US$ 11.7 Bil.
US$ 3.1 Bil.
Finance
No. of Students
Budget
Government
Tuition
Others
The Univ. of
Tokyo
15,074
US$ 1.46 Bil.
1.03
0.15
0.28
Waseda Univ.
45,149
US$ 0.86 Bil.
0.11
0.55
0.20
Researchers (2004)
National Univ.
Local Gov. Univ.
Private Univ.
Total
131,100
22,000
131,000
284,000
Research Budget
U.S.A.
EU
JAPAN
2003
US$ 310 Billion
210
168
Ratio/GDP
2.6%
1.99
3.35
Research Budget
for Science and Technology 2003
Research
Basic
Applied
Developmental
Total
15.0%
23.0
62.0
Univ.
Industry
55.0%
6.0%
36.5
19.4
8.5
74.7
Strengths of Public University
1.
More financial Support from the
government
2.
Low Tuition
3.
Strong historical background
Weakness of Public University
1.
2.
3.
4.
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
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
1.
2.
3.
4.
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)
Conclusion
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
There are 167 public (87 national, and 80 local
governmental) and 542 private universities in Japan.
Population of Japan is 127 million.
There are 624 thousand students in national, 122
thousand in local governmental and 2,062 thousand
in private universities.
There are 244,026 students in the postgraduate
schools in universities.
Financial support from the Government in 2004 was
11.7 billion US dollars to 87 national and 3.1 billion to
542 private universities.
Conclusion
6.
7.
8.
Examples of national (the Univ. of Tokyo) and private
universities (Waseda University and our Tokyo
Women’s Medical University) were introduced.
There were 284,000 researchers in 2003. The total
budget of researches for science and technology in
2003 was 168 billion US dollars.
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.