More students need financial support to concentrate on their studies
(From The Japan Times Feb. 21 issue)

要約
学費の支払いに追われる大学生たち

The most recent evidence of the terrible effects of Japan's economic slowdown comes from the National Federation of University Cooperative Associations. This consumer cooperative, which researches and supports university life, reported last October that more university students than ever are having a hard time paying for their studies.

Students' difficulties these days are more than the standard tight budgets all students suffer through. The report found that the number of university students living away from home who receive no allowance at all from their parents hit a record 10.2 percent in 2009. Over 14 percent of all students said that a change in their family's finances during the past year had affected them. The survey found that students' average parental support, ¥74,000 per month, is the lowest since 1983, before the bubble economy.

Japanese parents may have once paid their children's tuition payments with pride, but these days, the percentage of students who depend on scholarships is at the highest level ever. The report found that 37 percent of students now receive aid. That percentage may seem small compared to the 63 percent of American college students receiving aid, but it comes at a cost. Students are learning harsh lessons about financing their schooling rather than focusing on their major subjects.

As education becomes more important for future workplace requirements, students are scrambling harder than ever to pay their bills. As educational tasks — specializations, language learning, critical thinking and communication skills — become more time-intensive to accomplish, students are devoting more of their time trying to pay for it all. With more pressure to pay back loans, greater time spent on part-time jobs and the increased stress of job-hunting, many students will likely be spending less time and energy learning than ever before.

The basic solution to these problems is fairly straightforward: greater financial support from the government. Many schools are considering lowering tuition. Other changes are needed as well such as enabling students to start job-hunting later — instead of in their third year of study — to give them time to learn at the peak of their university years.

全国大学生協連の昨年10月の調査で、学費納入に苦労する大学生が増えたことがわかった。

親元からの仕送りがない下宿生の数は10％を超え、全学生の14 % 超が親の経済状況の変化が自分の生活に影響を与えたと答えている。仕送りの平均は月7万4000円と、1983年のバブル期前レベルまで落ち込んだ。

奨学金受給者は過去最多で37 % 、米国の63 % に比べると少ないようだが、返済義務がある。学生たちは専門の勉強よりも、学費の支払いという厳しい現実を学んでいる。専門性、語学、批判的思考、伝達能力など、時間をかけて学ぶ課題が増える中、学生はより長時間働いている。

政府からの資金援助が基本的な解決法だ。多くの大学が学費減額を検討している。就職活動の開始時期を遅らせて、学問に集中できる時間を確保するなど、さまざまな改革が必要だ。