Students need more information to pick a school.

Japan already has more than 700 universities and graduate schools. But a government council has approved the opening of 14 new schools for the next academic year, which starts in April.

The bigger news in the university community this year, however, is that two shareholder-owned companies have established universities, taking advantage of the government's special deregulation zone initiative. The two companies will also create new departments and graduate schools for their universities next year, while another joint stock corporation is expected to open a university dedicated to graduate-level education.

These are important developments because previously only nonprofit academic corporations set up exclusively for educational purposes were allowed to open private universities. Since such educational corporations are supposed to operate their institutions over the long term, strict conditions concerning assets and organization are imposed on their establishment.

In contrast, ordinary corporations owned by shareholders cannot be expected to keep operating schools if they do not generate profits. These for-profit operators may pull out of the business.

Despite the downside, the government has opened the door for profit-oriented universities by creating a special deregulation zone for such plans. The decision was based on expectations that businesses will bring new thinking and education models into university management.

Armed with expertise in education-program management accumulated through operating cram schools for bar examinations and corporate training programs, the three companies have drawn up unique blueprints for their schools. Many of their ideas may inspire other nonprofit university operators, such as whole-day classes to attract adult students, two-week intensive courses and IT-based teaching methods.

The council's inspections of their plans, however, have also revealed many problems.

The panel has handed each of the three companies a list of about 10 items that need improvement, far more than average. The education ministry will require these operators to submit annual reports on their efforts for improvement until the graduation of the first students. The ministry will also conduct its own on-site inspections into the institutions.

Universities must fulfill certain government standards to guarantee the minimum quality of education. But the standards have been eased substantially in recent years in line with the shift of the administrative focus from advance regulation to after-the-fact checks.

In addition, the organization to evaluate the performances of private universities has only recently been set up. Evaluations of each school are expected only once every seven years. Easing the inspection criteria without adopting measures to guarantee the quality of education only forces preparatory students to take huge risks in selecting the school.

What's most important is to provide university hopefuls sufficient information about the schools.

In three years, the number of entrance exam takers will equal the total university quota. Nearly 30 percent of private universities already have enrollments that are smaller than what is required. Policy-makers should realize that many universities are now in danger of going bankrupt.

Last fiscal year, the education ministry started disclosing on its Web site the improvements it has required each university to make. But this step does little to help students judge the quality of universities because the ministry does not publish reports from the schools on what they have done to improve. The ministry should give students access to all information concerning the quality of universities, including those operated by nonprofit organizations.

Nonprofit academic corporations are now required to publish data concerning their financial conditions. Profit-seeking corporations owning universities should be required to do the same.

The government plans to initiate by year-end the process of evaluating company-operated universities to determine if this formula should be allowed across the nation. But the companies have yet to start taking steps to make the required improvements.

The evaluation can and should wait until the graduation of the new universities' first students.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 29(IHT/Asahi: November 30,2004)