On August 2021, 8, about Tokuyama University, a private university in Shunan City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, four proposals on publicization were passed at the 18th extraordinary meeting of the Shunan City Council in the 3rd year of the Ordinance, and on April 6, 4, "Shunan" It was virtually decided to open as a "public university".
Tokuyama University was opened in April 1971 by the invitation of the city council of Tokuyama City, which was once in the eastern part of Yamaguchi Prefecture.As the only four-year university in the district and as a pioneer of publicly-owned private universities, it produced a large number of graduates and celebrated its 4th anniversary in April 4.Tokuyama City merged with Shinnanyo City, Kumage Town, Kumage District, and Kano Town, Tsuno District in April 2021, and is now Shunan City.Therefore, the name of the university will be changed to "Shunan Public University" with the publicization.
Although the number of students enrolled in Tokuyama University in 2020 is almost sufficient, sports scholarship students and international students account for about 56% of the total, and the ratio in Yamaguchi Prefecture is only about 35%.In addition, the current balance of payments has been chronically deteriorating due to the increase in scholarship costs, and the burden of future renewal costs due to the aging of facilities is also a cause for concern.
According to "Direction of Town Development that Makes the Most of Universities-City's Way of Thinking about Publicization of Tokuyama University (Draft)-" submitted by Shunan City in April 2021, the merits of publicization are brand power and social trust. By improving and reducing tuition fees, it will become more attractive and contribute to the development and retention of local human resources, solve management issues in the local industry, promote industry-academia collaborative research, and function as a regional think tank in terms of policy. It is listed.
Publicization is by no means a university bailout.As the environment surrounding rural areas and local universities becomes harsher due to the declining birthrate and declining population, the role of universities, which are higher education institutions, is actively renewed with the involvement of industry in order to promote regional revitalization and sustainable town development. It is required to build.
However, at present, not only the cases of private universities shifting to public universities, but also many new public universities have been opened in recent years.Since there are several public junior colleges remaining, there is a possibility that the number will increase in the future.As competition among public universities will intensify, it will be more important to make the faculties and educational contents unique.
The data on public universities are as follows (as of August 2021).
● Universities that have changed from private to public * 10 universities nationwide.Parentheses indicate university location and year of publicization
・ Kochi University of Technology (Kami City, Kochi Prefecture / 2009)
・ Shizuoka University of Art and Culture (Hamamatsu City, Shizuoka Prefecture / 2010)
・ Meio University (Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture / 2010)
・ Tottori University of Environmental Studies (Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture / 2012)
・ Nagaoka Institute of Design (Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture / 2014)
・ Fukuchiyama Public University (Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture / 2016)
・ Sanyo Onoda City Yamaguchi Tokyo Science University (Sanyo Onoda City, Yamaguchi Prefecture / 2016)
・ Nagano University (Ueda City, Nagano Prefecture / 2017)
・ Public Suwa University of Science (Chino City, Nagano Prefecture / 2018)
・ Public Chitose Institute of Science and Technology (Chitose City, Hokkaido / 2019)
● Newly established public universities in recent years * Parentheses indicate university location and opening year
Komatsu University Public (Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture / 2018)
University of Nagano (Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture / 2018)
Eikei University (Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture / 2021)
Sanjo City University (Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture / 2021)
Kawasaki City College of Nursing (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture / Scheduled for 2022)
● Future publicization schedule and examination status * Parentheses indicate university location and planned publicization year
・ Asahikawa University (Asahikawa City, Hokkaido / scheduled for 2023)
・ Mimasaka University (Tsuyama City, Okayama Prefecture / Under consideration)
・ Tohoku University of Public Interest and Literature (Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture / Under consideration)
● Public junior colleges (excluding junior colleges) recruiting students for the 2022 entrance examination
・ Yamagata Prefectural Yonezawa Women's Junior College
・ Otsuki City College
・ Gifu City Women's Junior College
・ Mie Junior College
・ Kurashiki City College
・ Oita Prefectural College of Arts and Culture
・ Kagoshima Prefectural Junior College
reference:[Shunan City] List of deliberation schedules, bills, and general question notifications
Direction of town development that makes the best use of the university-City's way of thinking about publicization of Tokuyama University (draft)-(PDF)
