Roughly half of 92 national university presidents predict some form of tuition hike after their schools become independent administrative institutions in fiscal 2004 and are allowed to determine how much they will charge students, according to a Kyodo News survey.
Nine of the presidents surveyed said they expect schoolwide increases after the proposed arrangement, now being debated in the Diet, 37 said they anticipate rises that may be limited to some departments within a university, and 34 said they think there will be no rise.
Asked whether they are considering raising tuition fees at their own universities, only one president answered affirmatively.