The Challenges of Increasing Capacity and Diversity in Japanese Higher Education Through Proactive Recruitment Strategies

Abstract

There has been fierce competition for a shrinking pool of high school graduates in the higher education market in Japan in recent years. Along came former Prime Minister Fukuda's plan for an intake of 300,000 international students by the year 2020. These have placed Japanese institutions of higher education under further pressure to sustain their student enrollments in the already competitive global higher education market over the coming decade. This article begins by showing rapidly changing trends in internationalization of Japanese higher education. It then highlights the challenges of increasing the capacity to diversify the campus population and program offerings that are facing Japanese higher education today. Some key issues revolving around such challenges are identified and then examined. Furthermore, the article stresses the importance of internationalizing both the institution and individual along the way. The article concludes with a few suggestions on approaches to internationalization.