Diversification in Japan’s Higher Education System

The Development of Special Training Colleges

Abstract

　 This paper examines the development of special training colleges since the late 1990s and discusses future directions for them. These institutions share several common features including their vocational orientations, short courses of study, programs geared toward adult students, an emphasis on transfer, and control by local government. Despite early predictions by some researchers that special training colleges would decrease due to anticipated lower numbers of high school graduates and the perception that these institutions were fallbacks for students who did not earn admission into universities, special training colleges have continued to grow. They have expanded not because of the relevance of their curriculum for an emerging specialist society or because of the preparation they offer to nontraditional learners. This paper hypothesizes that they play a “terminal education function,” particularly in disciplinary training, which was formerly carried out by high schools. High drop-out rates from these institutions need to be examined and policies supporting the transition of youth to society should be developed. Finally, a policy research agenda on inclusive education and training services is proposed.