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Home > Policy > White Paper, Notice, Announcement > White Paper > JAPANESE GOVERMENT POLICICIES IN EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTURE 1994 > PART II Chapter 4 Section 3 6

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PART II Recent Trends and Developments in Government Policies in Education, Science and Culture
Chapter 4. Toward Diversified Development of Higher Education
Section 3. Toward Sophisticated, Individualized, and Revitalized Higher Education
6. Enhancement of Colleges of Technology



(1) Current Situation

Colleges of technology are institutions of higher education that provide practical education in integrated five-year programs for lower secondary school graduates. The programs are tailored to reflect students' characteristics and ambitions. These institutions have earned an excellent reputation for educational performance.

Graduates of colleges of technology are eligible for transfer admission to universities. In March 1994 approximately 1,750 graduates of colleges of technology, or 18% of all such graduates, achieved transfer admission to national, local public, and private universities, including Nagaoka University of Technology and Toyohashi University of Technology.


(2) Recent Policies and Priorities

The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture has implemented a number of institutional reforms on the basis of a February 1991 report of the University Council titled "Improvement of Education in Colleges of Technology." Changes include the expansion of fields, the establishment of an advanced-course system, and the creation of the title of "associate."

The Ministry is also working actively to establish or restructure departments and introduce advanced courses in order to keep pace with the increasingly sophisticated nature of science and technology and meet industry's high demand for graduates of colleges of technology. In fiscal 1994 a department of communication and information science was established at Fukushima National College of Technology, while departments of industrial chemistry and civil engineering were restructured into departments of materials engineering and of environmental and urban engineering, respectively.

Advanced courses have been established at colleges of technology in Akita, Toyota, and Yatsushiro. These colleges have been approved by the National Institution for Academic Degrees ,* and bachelor's degrees are awarded to students who fulfill the course requirements.

Colleges of technology play an important role as institutions of higher education. See also the discussion of the promotion of education in special training colleges in part 2, chapter 2, section 3.


* The National Institution for Academic Degrees was established in July 1991. Its primary role is to provide recognition for diverse learning activities at the level of higher education by conferring degrees on people who are deemed to have achieved the same standard of proficiency as those who have completed university undergraduate or graduate programs. This body was established to cope with the transition to a lifelong learning society and the diversified development of institutions of higher education.


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