著者

丸山 文裕

出版者

日本比較教育学会

雑誌

比較教育学研究 (ISSN:09166785)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1992, no.18, pp.129-140,210, 1992

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This paper firstly analyzes the relationship between the level of tuition fees and the characteristics defining university quality in Japanese private universities, secondly, compares these results with other research findings gained from a study of U. S. private universities, and finally, examines the differences in higher education policy conerning private university tuition in the two countries, Japan and the U. S.<BR>An empirical analysis uses data related to the following university characteristics: tuition fees, admission selectivity, age of the institution, enrollment, number of faculty members, student/teacher ratio, and an additional six variables. A simple correlation is calculated using these twelve variables, and the tuition fee is regressed on admission selectivity. The results show that in Japanese private universities, tuition fees are positively correlated with selectivity; there is no correlation between tuition fees and the number of students enrolled; and the higher the tuition fees, the larger, strangely enough, the number of students per faculty. Regression analysis gives a figure for marginal tuition revenue in four 'gakubu'(schools); 3, 781 yen in the School of Literature, meaning that the school can expect 3, 781 yen revenue increase per student as the selectivity goes up by an additional one unit; 5, 106 yen in the School of Economics; 11, 193 yen in the School of Engineering; and minus 93, 875 yen in the School of Medicine.<BR>The research results show that the more prestigious the school, the more expensive its tuition in both countries. This can be called the "market mechanism" in higher education, whereby the stronger the demand and the better the quality are, the higher the price (tuition fees). This market mechanism, however, comes into conflict with the social need for highly talented manpower and an equal opportunity policy, because the abler students are likely to be more reluctant to go to presitious colleges and universities, where they will have to pay higher tuition fees. American system resolves this conflict through its strong and varied scholarship programs, while in Japan with its poorer scholarship programs, there is still a problem about providing equal opportunity in higher education.