The 2025 general selection is fast approaching, and following the results of this spring's entrance exam, it seems that the popularity of international programs will continue. In the science field, the popularity of information science has almost peaked, and although the admission quota will increase, the number of applicants is not expected to increase. In other words, it will become easier.Kawaijuku's university entrance exam information site Kei-Net "Trends of aspirations for the 2025 entrance exams as seen from Zento mock exams"Based on this article, we will consider the popular and unpopular departments for the 2025 entrance examinations.
The most popular faculties at national and public universities (humanities) are foreign languages and economics.
In the article "Trends in aspirations for the 2025 entrance exams as seen in the Zento mock exams," a graph is posted showing trends in aspirations by faculty.(Reference 1)The number of applicants to national and public universities in the mock exams (early schedule) was 102% higher than the previous year, so if it is above this number, it is relatively popular, and if it is below, it is not popular. The headline of the article is "International popularity resurrected, emerging from the COVID-XNUMX crisis."
Looking more closely, the graph shows that in the humanities and liberal arts fields, "Foreign Languages" and "Regional/International" have increased from last year, while "International Relations" is almost the same as last year. Therefore, even if the popularity of international studies is revived, it seems to be somewhat different from the popularity of so-called global faculties before the COVID-19 pandemic. Foreign language universities account for the majority of applicants for "foreign languages" at national and public universities. Representative universities are Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Osaka University's Faculty of Foreign Studies. Therefore, it can be assumed that foreign language universities are becoming more popular. Since the advent of generative AI, there has been some discourse that suggests that there is no need for people who can use foreign languages through machine translation. However, foreign language faculties are not language schools. They also study in depth the characteristics of the region, such as the culture, society, and life of the country. Applicants aiming for foreign language faculties probably perceive coexistence in a globalized society on an even deeper level. It is likely that this is related to the fact that many of the faculties and departments classified as "regional/international" are in the fields of regional culture, comparative culture, and language culture.
In the social sciences, the number of applicants to "Economics, Management, and Commerce" is increasing, especially the number of female applicants. This is a department that has been popular for several years, but it is likely that the increase in the population of 18-year-olds next year will have an impact on the actual number of university applicants. The number of applicants to the "Economics, Management, and Commerce" department is the largest among the so-called liberal arts departments in the humanities and social sciences. I recall a colleague of mine comparing the Faculty of Economics to high school and calling it the "general department" at university, and I believe that this is exactly why it is directly benefiting from the increase in population.
Reference 2025: [Kei-Net] Trends in aspirations for the XNUMX entrance exams as seen in the Zento mock exams
https://www.keinet.ne.jp/exam/2025/overview/trend.html
The most popular faculties at national and public universities (science) are science, engineering, veterinary medicine, and dentistry.
In science, the popularity of "Physics" is high, and this has continued since last year. Since many of the universities that have science faculties are traditionally prestigious national universities, this is thought to be influenced by the desire to enter prestigious universities (challenge-oriented). There has been a notable increase in female applicants for "Civil Engineering/Environment" and "Applied Chemistry" in the engineering field. In fact, as with architecture, the ratio of female applicants for "Civil Engineering/Environment" in engineering is higher than before, and this may also be influenced by the recent increase in role models in society. Also, since many female applicants for science choose chemistry in science, it is understandable that "Applied Chemistry" is on the rise. This may be a difficult decision to make, as it is difficult to choose between the bio-science of agriculture or the life science of science, but since applied chemistry in engineering is available nationwide, it is possible that students are choosing it with the intention of continuing to school in their local area.
Furthermore, "veterinarians," which have been popular for the past few years, are also likely to be popular next year. The reason for this is unclear, but one theory is that it may be due to interest in biodiversity and ecosystems as part of the SDGs. Images of sea turtles with straws stuck in them and koalas injured in forest fires may have raised awareness of social contribution. And the reason for the popularity of "teeth" is even more unclear. Even in this spring's entrance exams, the number of applicants to dental schools at national and public universities increased. When I asked several people who are said to be exam professionals, they simply said, "There are few people recruited in dental schools, so even if there are just a few applicants, the number of applicants will increase significantly compared to last year. It's not that dentists are popular." I think that's true, but it's unclear why there is a movement in applicants, even if it's only a small number. There is a theory that a certain number of applicants are flowing in from medical schools, but unlike before, the admission quota for medical schools has increased, so I don't think they will flow to dental schools, so I will continue to keep an eye on it.
The same trend is seen in the popularity of schools at private universities, but what about unpopular schools?
The headline for the trend of private university aspirations by field is "Private universities: Females' preference for science and engineering is clear," which is almost the same trend as for national and public universities. The trend of female applicants to engineering has been noticeable in recent years, and looking at the graph in the feature article in Kawaijuku's "Guideline October/November issue," we can see that it is growing rapidly.(Reference 2)Instead, the field of "life sciences" is rapidly declining. In recent years, not only have the number of applicants for mock exams been declining, but the number of applicants for entrance exams has also been steadily declining. The majority of life sciences are related to nutrition, which is common at women's universities. However, in response to this trend, many women's universities have already begun to take major steps towards reform. This is why reorganizations and the establishment of new departments are more prevalent at women's universities.
Other than these, "Nursing" and the interdisciplinary "Information" are not unpopular, but they are not showing the momentum they once did. The demand for nurses seems to be still high, and when you talk to medical professionals, they often say that there is a complete shortage of manpower in the field. This is where the sense of adults and the sense of high school students differ. The same thing can be said about design thinking, and when I talked to business people a while ago, I often heard the opinion that design thinking and data science are important. It seems that high school students also responded to data science (although that is coming to an end), but there are not many cases where they respond to design thinking. If you make a mistake in this area, it will be difficult to achieve success in establishing a new faculty or department.
In terms of trends in the faculties, the areas of interest are "Philosophy, Ethics, and Religion" in the liberal arts and humanities departments of private universities, "Dairy Farming and Animal Husbandry" in the agricultural science departments, and "Earth Science and Other" in the science departments of both public and private universities. Since the number of students recruited in these departments is small, even a small movement can greatly affect the competition rate. We will know in the next 2-3 months how applicants will move in the future.
Reference 2: [Kei-Net] Guideline, a university entrance information magazine
https://www.keinet.ne.jp/teacher/media/guideline/backnumber/2024.html#gl12
Why is the population of 18-year-olds increasing next year?
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the increase in the 18-year-old population will lead to an increase in the actual number of university applicants. Looking at the graph on Kawaijuku Kei-Net's "2025 Entrance Exam Environment," the 2025-year-old population is only increasing in the next three years, 2026, 2027, and 18.(Reference 3).
The other day, while talking with a researcher from a university in Aichi Prefecture, we got on the topic of why the number of births has increased for only the past three years. Upon investigation, we found that the number of births has increased for three consecutive years, in 2006, 2007, and 2008. Several papers were published around 2010 on the reasons for this. One study suggested that the increase in the number of second and subsequent births was a contributing factor, but the reason is not clear. During the same period, there were also survey results showing that the number of births in Italy, France, Spain, and other countries was also increasing, suggesting that it may be related to the economic recovery. If this is the case, the future of higher education may have been different if the Lehman Shock had not occurred in 2008.
Reference 2025: [Kei-Net] Examination environment for the XNUMX entrance examination
https://www.keinet.ne.jp/exam/2025/overview/outline.html
