In a move that has angered academics, the Abe administration plans to reform the national university system by telling schools to abolish departments in fields deemed less useful to the industrial world, such as the humanities, and provide more "practical" education to win a greater share of the subsidies, which account for a combined 40 percent of their revenue.
The universities have criticized the move as an attempt by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to do away with courses of study that are not known for producing immediate and visible achievement, but are nevertheless considered equally important to higher education.
Monday evening's draft of the latest version of "Abenomics," the prime minister's three-pronged economic growth strategy, says an important role of national universities is "to build a system to produce human resources that match the needs of society by grasping accurately changes in industrial structure and employment needs."