This report is a summary of the 45th Research Institute for Higher Education Annual Study Meeting, held at the Higashi-Hiroshima campus of Hiroshima University in 2017. The theme of the year was “Financial Issues of Higher Education – Marketization of Funding Resources”. Takafumi Goda, President of Shokei Gakuin University, opened proceedings with an inaugural speech entitled “Restructuring of higher education finance”. Subsequently, three speakers made presentations, followed by comments and discussion.
Japanese universities are at a significant turning point regarding their management as financial assistance to higher education is being reduced. More specifically, the basic research funding available from the central government is being reduced, and universities increasingly have to apply for competitive research funding. As a result, the sum total of scientific research funds has increased, but the drop in the relative international position of Japanese research activities is brought into question.
At this Annual Study Meeting, we learned about the policy and circumstances of higher education finance from a leading expert in the field and discussed what form of resource allocation was most desirable.