By MIZUHO AOKI. Education minister Makiko Tanaka drew immediate flak in early November when she outright refused her advisory panel's recommendation to approve three new universities.
The outspoken Tanaka justified her decision by asserting that higher education is in decline because there are too many universities.
As the criticism increased, however, she reversed herself and approved the three schools a week later.
Experts praised Tanaka's initial decision to reject the schools and confirmed that while universities are indeed growing in number, the quality of education appeared to be deteriorating.
Following are questions and answers about the nation's universities:
How many universities are there? As of May 1, there were 783 universities nationwide, compared with 523 in 1992. Of the total, 86 are state-run, 92 are public and the remaining 605 are private.
While the total has climbed, the number of state-run universities has been in decline, falling to 86 from 100 in 2003.
The increase in universities ultimately pushed up the percentage of people going on to higher education, from 26 percent in 1992 to 51 percent in 2010, according to ministry data.
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