Tokyo Women’s Medical Univ. Denied Grants by Extra-Govt Organization; Other Scandal-Hit Universities Also Impacted

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:39 JST, January 31, 2025

An extra-governmental organization that provides grants to privately run educational institutions decided Thursday not to provide any to scandal-hit Tokyo Women’s Medical University (TWMU) for fiscal 2024.

For fiscal 2023, the university in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, received about ¥2 billion in grants from the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan (PMAC).

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry offers the grants through PMAC to corporations that run private universities in order to support their management. The money is reduced or cut entirely if a university is found to be in violation of the law or being governed poorly.

TWMU’s former Chancellor Kinuko Iwamoto was arrested on suspicion of breach of trust in connection with the construction of new campus buildings. TWMU itself was found to have accepted donations from the relatives of people taking a special entrance exam meant for such candidates as alumni’s children and other family members. The incidents have caused great confusion among the university’s management and governance.

Despite the about ¥2 billion in grants for fiscal 2023 accounting for just over 1% of TWMU’s total income, the decision by PMAC not to award any for fiscal 2024 could have a widespread impact on the university’s management, as there are subsidies that now cannot be applied for.

Nihon University — which had already not received grants for three consecutive years following a drug scandal involving members of its American football club — was not awarded grants for fiscal 2024 either after managers of several sports clubs were found to have illegally collected tuition and other fees from club members last year.

Tokyo University of Social Welfare, where many international students have gone missing, will also receive no grants.

The budget for private school grants for fiscal 2024 is ¥297.8 billion, about 10% of the total income of all educational corporations.