Private higher education is an increasingly significant, ramified, and yet still conspicuously understudied topic. This chapter sets out various established and emerging models of private higher education, explaining key variables such as the relationship with state authority, diversity of institutional structures and modes of governance, and the interplay of social and commercial missions. It then asks where the Japanese system fits within these models and suggests a number of features which Japan shares with other countries. One of these features is the reliance of the state on the demand-absorbing role of private institutions—not one which is peripheral to the public system but rather the dominant mode of higher education provision and especially important in periods of rapid growth in participation rates. The chapter proceeds to develop a more Japan-specific profile of the private sector, establishing the definitional scope of private higher education in Japan and placing the numerical dominance of the private sector in direct contrast with its absolute disadvantage in terms of public investment. It also explains that, despite this handicap, private institutions do enjoy certain privileges in terms of governance structures, taxation, and scope of operations, and also boast distinctive educational strengths. To provide a context for understanding these features, the chapter also provides an in-depth history of the Japanese private university. This is offered as a conscious alternative to more orthodox historical accounts which tend to place national universities in the limelight and treat their private counterparts as a cast of supporting characters.
Permissible Public Cooperation in the Field of Public Administration – Opportunity for Enterprises
