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JAPAN: More universities allowing students to delay graduation due to job shortage
# 03, March 2010
An increasing number of universities are allowing senior students with no job offers to stay another year under cheaper tuition as the preference for fresh graduates remains strong in the job market.As major Japanese companies tend to employ new graduates, many senior students with no job offers believe that it is better to repeat their final year and continue to look for job opportunities as college students.
During its board of directors meeting last month, Aoyama Gakuin University decided to introduce a new system to allow its students to delay their graduation starting this spring. Under the new system, those who wish to remain at college for another year will be able to do so for half the regular tuition even after they have earned enough credits for graduation.
"If students have legitimate reasons for delaying their graduation, such as continuing to look for work, they can take advantage of the system as a preparation period," says the university's public relations office. While helping its students pursue better employment opportunities, it also aims to lessen the financial burden on them through discounted tuition.
Tokyo Polytechnic University and Shonan Institute of Technology are also planning to introduce similar measures and several other universities have already been offering such options to students. Rikkyo University and Seikei University introduced the system in 1999 and 2002, respectively, while Meiji University and Kogakuin University approved the postponed graduation of some students as a special exception, after their job offers had been canceled following the collapse of Lehman Brothers two years ago.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology estimates dozens of universities across the country have already introduced the system based on the number of prior consultations it received from public and private universities.
"Minimum graduation requirements are set by each university, so it's up to them as to how they deal with the students who have already completed academic courses. There will be no problem as long as universities set rules and prevent professors from failing students on purpose," a ministry official said.
Meanwhile, an official at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's employment security office for young people said: "Students tend to focus on major companies amid the current economic recession. But about 60 percent of small and medium-sized businesses hire new employees throughout the year regardless of whether the candidates are new graduates or not."
A career path consultant at a university also had doubts over the new measures: "Under current economic circumstances, there is no guarantee that students can find a job by next spring even if they delay their graduation. It would be better for them to graduate now and start working for a smaller company so that they can accumulate skills in order to change jobs later. We do not recommend that they stay longer at school. It was a tough decision for us to make."
Source: Mainichi Japan
Photo: Tokyo Polytechnic University
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