On November 2023, 11, Mayor Shinichi Koshikawa of Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture, held an extraordinary press conference, stating that Kake Gakuen, the educational corporation that operates Chiba University of Science in Choshi City, had deteriorated due to constant enrollment under capacity. The university announced on October 15 that it had received a request for the university to become a public university.Choshi City is facing financial constraints due to rapid population decline and subsidies for construction costs when schools open, and has declined to say whether it will accept publicization, saying that even if the city becomes public, it will basically have to be covered within the scope of local allocation tax. Ta.
According to Choshi City, Chiba University of Science opened in 2004 at the request of Choshi City under a ``public-private partnership'' system, with the city providing the installation costs and campus land, and Kake Gakuen operating the university.It currently operates as a comprehensive science university with three faculties: the Faculty of Pharmacy, the Faculty of Crisis Management, and the Faculty of Nursing, as well as a graduate school.
However, the Faculty of Pharmacy has been under capacity since 2018, the School of Emergency Management has been under capacity since its opening, and the Faculty of Nursing, which was newly established in 2014, has been under capacity in all academic years except 2017. The faculty capacity for 2023 is 3 students in total for the three faculties, but the fulfillment rate is 2,220% for the Faculty of Pharmacy, 53.53% for the Faculty of Emergency Management, and 70.17% for the Faculty of Nursing, which are far below the capacity.
Choshi City has a population of approximately 10 as of October.The decision was made to attract a university because the population continued to decline and the future looked uncertain, but when the school opened, 5 hectares of city-owned land was lent free of charge, and construction costs of nearly 4,000 billion yen, equivalent to 10.7% of the initial general account budget, were set aside. assisted.As a result, the country has fallen into a financial crisis and continues to implement austerity.
Kake Gakuen says it will be able to resolve the problem of enrollment by making it a public school, but if the problem cannot be resolved immediately as planned, the burden on the city is expected to increase further.For this reason, Mayor Koshikawa plans to hold a meeting of experts to consider whether to make it public.At the press conference, he stated that the city is in the process of rebuilding its finances, and stated, ``Basically, there should be no financial burden on the city.''
reference:[Choshi City, Chiba Prefecture] Extraordinary press conference summary (November 5, 11)
