Financial Autonomy of Universities and the Dynamism of University Management

Abstract

The institution of the university, which had begun as a self-governing organization of students in Bologna in the 12th century, has undergone many transformations over the years, which is the fate of the university system. In the nineteenth century, as the utility of knowledge and the value of technology created by academia became enormous, a new structure was born in which the state mainly supported university research. On the other hand, as Max Weber observed about American academia, in the early 20th century, there was a growing expectation for universities to have financial autonomy and agile management of research. In Japan as well, there were already growing voices among professors of imperial universities in the Meiji era that the autonomy of universities should be considered from the standpoint of financial independence. It is now worth considering the historical lessons of this.