Tadataka Koide, president of Aichi Gakuin University in Nagoya, is awaiting this month's entrance exams with anticipation and anxiety.

Like most colleges, applications for Koide's university, which has 12 courses in six departments, declined by 30 percent last year compared with the mid-'90s, reflecting the nation's dwindling birthrate.

To attract more students, the 47-year-old university will open two new courses in April that focus on industrial information and international management.