Statistics and Reports 1997-98(1)

The Educational Information Service (EIS) of the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission (JUSEC) annually compiles data on Japanese students in the United States and a profile of EIS library users. Data on American students in Japan are also included to present an overview of trends in Japan-US educational exchanges.

I. Overview of Foreign Students in the U.S.

During the academic year 1997-98 the number of foreign students at US colleges and universities was 481,280, an increase of 5.1% over last year's figure. After growth of less than 1% for the past two years and a general trend of decelerating growth over the previous seven years, this 5.1% increase represents a dramatic jump.

Region of World	1996-97	%	1997-98	%	% Change
Asia	260,743	56.9	277,508	57.6	6.4
Europe	68,315	14.9	71,616	14.8	4.8
Latin America	49,592	10.8	51,368	10.6	3.6
Middle East	29,841	6.5	30,962	6.4	3.8
North America	23,611	5.2	22,613	4.6	-4.2
Africa	22,078	4.8	23,162	4.8	4.9
Oceania	3,690	0.8	3,893	0.8	5.5
Total	457,984		481,280		5.1

Source: IIE Open Doors 1997-1998

Asian students accounted for 57.6% of total foreign students in the U.S. and nine out of the top ten sending countries continue to be in Asia. This year’s growth was mostly fueled by students from Korea, China and India which together accounted for 57% of the growth.

Japan continued to be the top sending country for the third year in a row but China is so close behind and growing so fast as to make it almost certain to be the number one sending country next year. The rate of increase for China was six times that of Japan this year.

Both Japan and China saw large increases in the number of students choosing to go to Australia. The growth rate of Japanese students to the US is only 1.7% while the growth rate to Australia as reported by the Australian government is 14.9% for calendar year1997.

Country	1995-96 Number	%	1996-97 Number	%	1997-98 Number	%	Change
Japan	45,531	10	46,292	10.1	47,073	9.8	1.7
China	39,613	8.7	42,503	9.3	46,958	9.8	10.5
Rep. of Korea	36,231	8	37,130	8.1	42,890	8.9	15.5
India	31,743	7	30,641	6.7	33.818	7	10.4
Taiwan	32,702	7.2	30,487	6.7	30,855	6.4	1.2
Canada	23,005	5.1	22,984	5	22,051	4.6	-4.1
Thailand	12,165	2.7	13,481	2.9	15,090	3.1	11.9
Malaysia	14,015	3.1	14,527	3.1	14,597	3	0.5
Indonesia	12,820	2.8	12,461	2.7	13,282	2.8	6.6

Source: IIE Open Doors 1997-1998

II. Japanese Students in the U.S. 1980-1998

The following graphs illustrate the trends for the number of Japanese students since 1949 through 1996.

The drastic increase of the number of Japanese students can be seen in 1975 and 1986 due to the strong yen and internationalization. However, the rate of increase has slowed down since 1995.

Japanese Students in the U.S. 1949-1995

1. Characteristics

A. Level of Study

IIE's Open Doors 1997-98 reports that the foreign students at the undergraduate level, including both associate and bachelor's degree programs, account for about half (48.1%) of the entire foreign student population, while the foreign graduate students account for 43.9%. The "other" foreign students, including those enrolled in practical training, nondegree and Intensive English programs, total 7.9%.

On the other hand, the majority of Japanese students in the U.S. are in undergraduate programs (70.1%). The rate of graduate enrollments by Japanese students in the U.S. is smaller (18.2%) compared to that of other foreign students in the U.S. graduate level.

The numbers of Japanese students at undergraduate and graduate levels have also increased and the overall number of Japanese students rose slightly in spite of a decreasing number of students in the "other" category. While this year's undergraduate statistics show an increase over last year's, they still do not bring Japanese undergraduate student levels to what they were two years ago in 1994-95.

Level of Study	1995-96 Number	%	1996-97 Number	%	1997-98 Number	%
Undergraduate	32,033	70.3	32,444	70.1	32,292	68.6
Graduate	7,819	17.2	8,407	18.2	8,845	18.8
Other	5,679	12.5	5,441	11.7	5,936	12.6
Total	45,531		46,292		47,073

Source: IIE Open Doors 1997-1998

B. Two and Four Year Undergraduate Institutions

The figures for the Japanese students in two-year and four-year institutions are as follows:

Institutions	Two-year Institutions	Four-year Institutions
1989-90	23.20%	76.80%
1990-91	25.80%	74.20%
1991-92	26.20%	73.80%
1992-93	25.80%	74.20%
1993-94	N/A	N/A
1994-95	N/A	N/A
1995-96	N/A	N/A
1996-97	N/A	N/A
1997-98	N/A	N/A

The majority of students in undergraduate programs opt to enroll in four-year institutions, and the popularity of two year institutions seems to have leveled off. However, the Japan-U.S. Educational Commission feels that inquiries on vocational schools appear to have increased, although there is no statistical data to support this. The Institute of International Education no longer breaks down two-year and four-year programs for undergraduate students enrollment.

　

C. Gender

Past IIE statistics have shown the gap between male and female representation in the foreign student body steadily narrowing. In 1969 about one fourth of foreign students were women and the number has steadily risen until 1990-91 when the number of Japanese female students enrolled in US higher education surpassed that of male students for the first time in history.

IIE reports that overall the gender balance of international students in the US is 58.1% male to 41.9% female. In contrast the Japanese ratio has been sliding towards greater and greater percentage of female students. In its advising programs JUSEC tends to see approximately 60-65% female participation against 35-40%male. While there are no recent statistics on the exact breakdown, JUSEC estimates the percentages to be approximately 55% female to 45% male at this time.

As of 1995-96 the ratio of Japanese women to Japanese men studying in the U.S. shifted to 52.2% women to 47.8% men.

　

D. Fields of Study

IIE reports that business and management continues to be the most popular field of study among international students. 100,395 students making up over 20% of the total foreign student population are studying some aspect of business and management. The second most popular field is engineering, with 71,623 students or just under15%.

Japanese students mirror this trend in the business field, but according to the most recent statistics available, far fewer Japanese (3.4%) take up engineering than the overall percentage of 15.5%. Japanese students are strongly represented in the fields of Fine & Applied Arts (9.2%) and Social Sciences (15.4%).

Japanese Students' Field of Study	1993-94(%) Total	Graduate	Undergraduate	1995-96(%)Total	Graduate	Undergraduate
Agriculture	0.7	1.5	0.5	0.9	2.3	0.7
Business & Management	21	28.5	22.2	17.9	17.2	19.6
Education	3.3	7.1	2.6	2.8	8.4	1.9
Engineering	3.9	8	3.5	3.4	7.4	3.1
Fine & Applied Arts	8.3	6.4	9.7	9.2	8.8	10.6
Health Science	1.3	2.5	1.2	1.6	3.2	1.5
Humanities	5	8.1	4.1	6.1	10.7	5.5
Math & Computer Sciences	3.1	3.2	3.5	3.3	3.4	3.7
Physical & Life Sciences	3.1	6	2.9	3.6	5	3.8
Social Sciences	14	17.3	15.2	15.4	24.7	15.9
Other	18.2	7.7	22.5	17.1	7.5	21.3
Intensive English	8.1	0.4	1	9.9	0.2	1.7
Not declared	10.1	3.1	11.1	8.8	1.2	10.7

Source: IIE Open Doors 1996-1997

These are IIE classifications defined by them as follows:

Business & Management includes general business/management, business & office, marketing & distribution, consumer, personal and miscellaneous services.

Social Science includes general social sciences, psychology, public affairs, area and ethnic studies, protective services, parks and recreation.

Fine and Applied Arts include visual and performing arts, architecture and environmental design and industrial arts.

Humanities include letters, foreign languages, theology and philosophy and religion.

The areas of business and social science continue to be popular among the Japanese because of the quality, flexibility and variety of programs that US institutions offer. Engineering programs were one of the most popular in the 1960's and the 1970's, but there is a decreased interest in these areas in Japan. One factor for this decrease may be that the master's degrees and doctorates in these fields became more easily obtainable in Japanese universities compared to the social sciences and the humanities where a Ph.D. is offered only after an individual is well established in the profession.

Recent JUSEC group advising sessions have been distinguished by the increasing number of graduate students interested in either economics or international development on the one hand, and by the extreme variety of majors and fields chosen by both graduate and undergraduates on the other, such that with the exception of business and management, and the recent enthusiasm for international development, there are no clearly discernible trends in the field of study for Japanese students.

　

E. Funding

The funding source for most foreign students is primarily personal and family funds, and Japanese students are no exception. A large percentage of Japanese enrolled in business programs used to be company-sponsored, however, with the collapse of the "bubble economy" in 1992, many of these companies reduced the number of sponsorship or in some cases suspended their programs entirely. A survey of EIS users indicates that 74% of that subsection of Japanese students will study entirely on personal and family funds.

　

F. Intensive English Programs

Intensive English programs are very popular among Japanese in the U.S. These programs are a quicker and less expensive alternative than undergraduate or graduate programs and give Japanese students a chance to study English and experience American culture first hand.

IIE statistics show that there was a record high of 54,052 foreign students enrolled in Intensive English programs in 1997-98 and that 22.3% of them were from Japan, making Japan second only to Korea (which had 22.4% of the total.)

Over the past 10 years the percentage of Japanese students in the IEP’s has declined from a high of 33.3% of total enrollment in 1989-90 to the current rate of 22.3%. The rate drop is caused by the rapid increase in students from other countries, rather than by a decrease in the actual numbers of Japanese students, which has remained relatively stable over the same time period.

Contribution of Top Five Sending Countries to IEP Programs 1997-98

Country Total	# of Students	%
Korea	12,128	22.4
Japan	12,044	22.3
Taiwan	3,992	7.4
Brazil	2,869	5.3
Thailand	2,148	4.0

G. Visa issuance

There are three types of visas under which students go to the U.S. for study and research: the F-1 student visa, the M-1 vocational student visa and the J-1 exchange visitor visa. JUSEC has obtained the numbers for the issuance of the three types of visas for the past 7 years as shown below.

There had been five American consulate generals in Japan, which issued F-1/J-1/M-1 visas until January, 1996. Those visas are now issued only in Tokyo Osaka, and Naha. Visa related inquiries are directed either to the Japanese equivalent of a 900 number with a recorded message or to an automated fax answering system. Procedural information and advice is also available on a walk-in basis at the embassy from 8:30 to noon any workday, although Thursday are busy and best avoided according to the embassy.

	F-1	J-1	M-1	Total
1989-90	31,410	7,138	798	39,346
1990-91	32,348	7,139	913	40,400
1991-92	32,121	7,049	1,165	40,335
1992-93	30,994	6,698	1,324	39,016
1993-94	31,557	6,605	1,066	39,228
1994-95	31,243	6,506	1,069	38,818
1995-96	31,563	6,979	1,094	39,636
1996-97	34,470	7,213	1,166	42,858
1997-98	34,619	7,396	1,130	43,145

H. TOEFL

Since 1981, the number of TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination takers in Japan has dramatically increased. there was a slight decline in 1992-93 and another decrease in 1997-98 from the previous year.

ETS and its partner company, Sylvan Prometric, are planning to introduce the Computer Adaptive TOEFL Test to Japan in October of 2000. Japan is one of the last places to receive the Computer Adaptive TOEFL because the enormous volume of test-takers in Japan has caused ETS to wait until all the problems with the new system are resolved before deploying it in Japan.

I. Recent trends in Japan

1. Economy

The Japanese economy is showing signs of an upturn recently. However, overall it remains sluggish. This continued relative weakness of the Japanese economy is expected to have several effects on the study abroad situation in Japan.

On the one hand, the economic difficulties will only increase the demand for American education. The difficulty that graduates, particularly female graduates, have in securing employment, the loss of faith in traditional Japanese corporations following bankruptcies and downsizing, the breakdown of the lifetime employment system, the pressures on Japan to open its markets to multi-national corporations resulting in more employment opportunities outside the traditional Japanese companies, and the strong reputation of American higher education, all contribute to a continued flow of students from Japan to the U.S.

At the same time the yen has strengthened against the dollar (about \105/$1 as of this writing) which makes the cost of a U.S. education more attractive financially.

2. Demographics

The number of Japanese 18 year olds has dropped over 20% since the peak of 2 million in 1992. It will drop another 20% by the year 2020. Demographics are putting pressure on all levels of the Japanese higher education system. As competitive universities strive to keep their student numbers up, the schools at the bottom are under severe pressure.

At the same time, as the recruitment picture becomes more competitive among Japanese institutions, there is a trend towards offering more opportunities to study abroad, including in the U.S., in order to attract students.

3. Increased Competition from Other English-Speaking Countries

As the United States Government pulls out of overseas educational advising, the British Council, the embassies of Australia, New Zealand and Canada are increasingly aggressive in their drive to recruit the Japanese student.

At the same time, the severe economic crisis in much of Asia, has focused intensive recruiting efforts on Korea, Taiwan and Japan. American schools may not realize the degree of competition being offered by the other English-speaking countries.

4. Corporate Attitudes towards graduates of foreign programs

Traditionally all new employees enter the company as a group on April 1st each year after their graduation in March. In some organizations, they are even addressed as “the class of 19XX” referring to the year the group joined the organization. In the past, companies officially began recruiting college seniors as of July 1st in accord with a “gentlemen’s agreement,” but this agreement is no longer in effect, and companies may now begin recruiting when they wish. New hires still go through a training period during the first few months of employment and usually get promoted annually until their retirement at age 55 or 60.

The problem for U.S. educated Japanese graduates is that by the time they return to Japan in May or June, all positions are already filled and companies are starting to prepare to recruit a new group of fresh graduates for the following year. So, positions are not available to them until the following spring.

However, Japanese businesses now need employees with experience and specialized skills in such fields as languages and information technology. They also have to have flexibility in order to survive in fiercer global competitions. Major corporations have recently announced that they will create another hiring period in September to offer job opportunities to those who graduate from foreign programs. Their attitudes towards foreign program graduates have clearly shifted from one that is “they disturb our company culture” to “they have something special to offer.”

At the same time, the current recession has made it more difficult for all graduates to secure a position, and graduates of foreign programs are seeking employment in foreign firms that do business in Japan or abroad.

5. The Ministry of Education of Japan

In 1992, the Ministry of Education began an "Education Reform" drive, relaxing some regulations which include among other things such items as only allowing the transfer of 30 credits among Japanese programs as well as from vocational colleges and foreign programs, and adopting an American self-study system. Another recent reform will allow 17 year old students to take college level classes for the first time. Previously, only students 18 years and older were eligible for college. The Ministry is also encouraging universities to strengthen graduate programs and to cooperate with private sector in various aspects of higher education. Traditionally Japanese institutions, particularly national and public universities have believed that education and business should not mix.

　

2. Distribution by Region and State

Most of the foreign student population is generally distributed in the Northeast, Midwest, South and Pacific regions of the United States. In the case of Japanese students, one third are enrolled in the Pacific area schools, while the rest follow the general foreign student distribution.

　

A. Ten States with Largest Number of Japanese Students

	1994-95		1995-96		1997-98
1	California	6,958	California	6,991	California	7,450
2	New York	3,899	New York	3,338	New York	3,932
3	Wash.	3,320	Wash.	2,963	Wash.	3,195
4	Mass.	2,547	Mass.	2,637	Mass.	2,493
5	Penn.	1,677	Illinois	1,518	Illinois	1,584
6	Illinois	1,542	Oregon	1,488	Penn.	1,447
7	Oregon	1,357	Penn.	1,417	Oregon	1,393
8	Colorado	1,178	Colorado	1,222	Texas	1,169
9	Utah	1,175	Ohio	1,189	Ohio	1,102
10	Ohio/Texas	1,031	Utah	979	Colorado	780

California has been by far the most popular state, attracting 19% of total Japanese students.

B. Ten Colleges and Universities with Largest Japanese Enrollments

	1994-95		1995-96		1997-98
1.	Santa Monica C	607	Santa Monica C	583	Los Angeles City Coll	668
2.	Boston U	557	New York U	576	New York U	594
3	Edmonds CC	537	Boston U	574	Southern Illinois U	504
4	New York U	529	U of Hawaii, Manoa	528	Bellevue CC	468
5	S. Ill U, Carbondale	504	U of Oregon	497	Columbia U	440
6	Seattle Ctrl CC	396	S. Ill U, Carbondale	443	U of Oregon	413
7	Columbia U	388	Seattle Ctrl CC	417	Seattle Central CC	406
8	U of Oregon, Eugene	369	Columbia U	393	San Francisco State U	389
9	Teikyo Loretto Hghts	336	Teikyo Loretto Hghts	382	Orange Coast College	387
10.	Harvard U	318	Hawaii Pacific U	317	Boston U	410

Despite the changes in rank, the numbers of Japanese students in the above schools have generally grown. University of Hawaii at Manoa has dropped out of the top ten. Seattle Central Community College has now made the list for several years running. There is no data reported for Santa Monica CC this year.

　

C. Undergraduate and Graduate programs with Largest Japanese Enrollments

The ranking of top ten schools in 1997-98 shifts depending on the level of programs. Listed below are the top ten schools of undergraduate and graduate enrollments of Japanese students.

Rank	Top 10 Undergraduate enrollment		Rank	Top 10 Graduate enrollment
1	Los Angeles City College	668	1	New York U	267
2	Orange Coast College	387	2	Columbia U	205
3	Southern Illinois U	363	3	Harvard U	159
4	U of Oregon	311	4	U of Penn.	150
5	Edmonds CC	307	5	U of Hawaii, Manoa	148
6	Seattle Central CC	303	6	San Francisco State	131
7	Berklee Coll. of Music	302	7	Boston U	126
8	San Francisco State	258	8	Cornell	124
9	Lindsey Wilson Coll	251	9	U of Ind. Bloomington	113
10	Teikyo Loretto Heights	232	10	U of MI, Ann Arbor	112

III. U.S. Students in Japan

A. Number of U.S. Students

In 1998 there were 51,298 foreign students enrolled in Japanese universities, graduate schools, junior colleges and other special schools, according to the Ministry of Education. This is a very small increase from the previous year’s number (51,047). The Ministry of Education has largely abandoned its previous goal of 100,000 foreign students. Reasons given by the Ministry of Education for this include the high cost of living in Japan and the difficulty foreign students experience in adapting to Japanese institutions. Ninety percent of the foreign students were from Asian countries, with China sending 44% of total foreign students in Japan. The following shows the top ten sending countries for the past five years:

(* means not in top ten for that year)

Source: Ministry of Education

Students from the United States comprised just under 2% of the total in 1998.. While it is a small number, the U.S. is the only non-Asian country among the top ten sending countries. Although the number of foreign students in Japan has dropped down, the Short Term Student Exchange Promotion Program by Japan’s Ministry of Education is expected to increase the numbers of American students in Japan in the future. The following shows a historical change in the numbers of U.S. students in Japan:

　

1954-1979 (total # of students from North America)	383
1979 (North America)	55
1985 (U.S.)	811
1988 (U.S.)	964
1989 (U.S.)	961
1990 (U.S.)	1,180
1991 (U.S.)	1,257
1992 (U.S.)	1,245
1993 (U.S.)	1,192
1994 (U.S.)	1,146
1995 (U.S.)	1,087
1996 (U.S.)	1,088
1997 (U.S.)	999
1998 (U.S.)	949

Source: Ministry of Education

B. JET Programme

While those exchange student numbers are small, the number of young Americans who experience Japan through the JET Programme (the Japan Exchange and Teaching Programme) which began in 1987 cannot be ignored. While JET participants come from 11 countries, about 50% of them are from the U.S. The following shows American and total participant numbers:

	U>S.	Total
1987	592	848
1988	871	1,443
1989	1,090	1,987
1990	1,249	2,284
1991	1,545	2,874
1992	1,708	3,325
1993	1,881	3,785
1994	2,174	4,185
1995	2,460	4,628
1996	2,581	5,030
1997	2,581	5,351
1998	2,564	5,510

C. Where Do US Students Go?

According to IIE, 99,448 American students studied abroad during the 1996-97 academic year, for an increase of 5%. Europe has been by far the most favored destination for them attracting 65%, while only 6.4% studied in Asia.

The 10 top host countries of American students are:

	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97
1. United Kingdom	19,410	20,062	22,787
2. Spain	7,437	8,135	8,840
3. Italy	7,062	7,890	9,704
4. France	7,892	7,749	8,362
5. Mexico	4,715	6,220	6,865
6. Australia	3,346	3,313	3,870
7. Germany	3,504	3,552	3,815
8. Costa Rica	2,302	2,298	2,609
9. Japan	2,212	2,010	2,018
10. Ireland	*	*	1,926
11. Israel	2,621	1,667	1,718

IIE reported that six of the top 12 receiving countries were in Western Europe and they hosted over 61% of all American students studying overseas.

In the case of Japan, a combination of factors including the strong yen, differences in culture, and the difficulty in learning the Japanese language (due to its totally different writing system) help to explain the great disparity in student numbers despite the close economic ties between Japan and the United States. Please note that there is a discrepancy of the numbers of American students in Japan reported between IIE and Ministry of Education (see p. 12).

Given the spontaneous nature of U.S. students choices of majors and study interests, it is difficult to predict how the trend will shift, even though efforts are being made on both sides of the Pacific at the government level to overcome structural difficulties discouraging American students from coming to Japan.

　

IV. EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION SERVICE (EIS)

The Educational Information Service's primary mission is to promote increased understanding between Japan and the United States through information sharing in the areas of education, culture, and related social issues. In particular, EIS engages in activities which promote educational exchange between Japan and the United States and which support the overall mission of JUSEC.

Being based in Japan, a large portion of EIS activities serve to provide information on American higher education to the Japanese public. It fulfills this mission through a variety of activities including maintaining a library of school catalogues and reference books, and by offering individual and group advising sessions throughout the year. In addition, it carries out three major annual programs: an outreach program conducted in six major cities, a pre-departure orientation program and U.S. university fairs conducted in Tokyo and Osaka.

　

Its complementary mission is to provide information on Japanese education to interested Americans through correspondence and briefings for visiting American educators and others. It accomplishes this through the efforts of four full-time and two part-time staff.

In addition, EIS administers a cultural orientation program for Japanese scholars in conjunction with the Tokyo American Club and the United States Embassy. It also publishes orientation handbooks and handouts on U.S. and Japanese higher education. According to the most recent statistics available from IIE, the study-abroad trend has leveled off in Japan at around 45,000 students per year. The number was 45,531 in 1995-96, and 46,292 in 1996-97, and 47, 083 in 1997-98, thus maintaining the No.1 position for three years in the number of international students in the U.S.

　

A. Library services

New users of the library are asked to complete a questionnaire that provides background information on themselves and their reasons for using the library. The following data are excerpted from the statistical summary of this questionnaire presented in full in Appendix I of this report.

　

Library User Census

	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
New Users	5,200	5,002	5,012	4,914	3,226
Total Users	22,239	22,726	23,087	19,658	15,853

The number of library users totaled 15,853 in 1997-98. This is a decrease of 19% from the previous year and indicates that there were an average of 61.4 users daily. One reason for this decrease may be the availability of EIS publications and information through a 24 hr. telephone/fax service which was instituted in August of 1996 and the vastly increased volume of information available on the EIS and other web sites as of June 1998. Statistics for the usage of the fax/telephone service are on the next page.

User Profile of EIS Service

	1993-94	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Japanese	96%	96%	97%	97%	98%
Non-Japanese	4%	4%	3%	3%	2%
Students	49%	53%	54%	54%	52%
Non-Studs.	51%	47%	46%	46%	48%
Male	41%	40%	37%	38%	37%
Female	59%	60%	63%	62%	63%

The percentage of Japanese users has held steady over the past five years at approximately 97% or 98%. The percentage of female users, which had increased steadily since 1987, only to drop by 1% last year, has returned to the high of 63%. The continued high percentage of female users may be due to the tight job market for college female graduates in Japan.

　

IV-A-2. Library Holdings

Library holdings have been kept substantially the same over the past year with approximately 3500 catalogues and 500 reference materials being updated as new editions become available.

EIS replaced the used IBM Aptiva computers with two new Macintosh computer which are reserved exclusively for internet access. One of the Aptivas remains in the library to allow for continued access to information available on CD ROM.

The 24 hr. telephone/fax service which allows users to obtain EIS publications via fax which was added by EIS last year, has seen increased usage. (see below)

　

IV-A-3. Telephone Inquiries

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	% change
Tel. Service		34,200*	40,703	19%
Fax Service		3,894*	3,983	2%
Talk to Staff		7,804*	7,321	-6%
Total	33,967	45,898*	52,007	13%

Note: 1996-97 Statistics were available for 6 months only. Figures were doubled for an annual estimate. Actual numbers from 1997-98 have exceeded the projections from 1996-97 by 13%.

　

IV-A-4. Volume of Telephone and Mail Inquiries/Correspondence

	Year Total	Avg. per Day	% of change
Telephone/fax	52,007	196	13%
Mail	9,608	36	64%

Inquiries came primarily from these four sectors: Japanese public inquiries, media inquiries, government inquiries and overseas inquiries about Japanese education. The increase in the mailings was primarily due increased mass mailings to publicize the University Fair.

IV-A-4-a. Japanese Public Inquiries

These are basically advising inquiries regarding visas, school selection, accreditation, safety and other common advising issues and comprise the bulk of all inquiries.

IV-A-4-b. Media Inquiries

This year EIS received a small number of inquiries from the Japanese media regarding Japanese students in the U.S.

IV-A-4-c. Government Inquiries

In recent years, there has been a large number of graduates from U.S. institutions and in some instances questions have arisen regarding an American institution's accreditation status. Consequently the Ministries have approached EIS for assistance in verifying the status of such institutions. EIS worked with the Ministries to establish a form and procedures to facilitate the verification process.

IV-A-4-d. University Inquiries and Visitors

There were many inquiries from the U.S. about Japanese education. Most of these were about funding prospects, student credentials, educational standards, as well as questions regarding program linkage, not only with colleges and universities but with "Senmon Gakkos" (colleges of technology/vocational schools) in Japan. Japanese universities also inquired about student credentials received in the U.S.

There were numerous visitors from American universities as well as a few group visits organized by Linden Educational Services, etc. EIS usually provides briefings on Japanese education and the current trends of Japanese students in the U.S. It is a good opportunity for the EIS staff to learn from the visitors about current trends in U.S. education.

IV-A-5. Advising Sessions

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	% change
Ind. Adv.	204	175	285	62.80%
Group Adv.	2,612	2,179	2,885	32.40%
Total Adv.	2,816	2,354	3,170	34%

The counting method for advising recipients has changed slightly this reporting year. Unlike past years in which we separated out Tokyo Advising participants from Outreach Program participants, from this year forward we will count all advising participants in the same category, whether from Tokyo or an outlying city. Still, the numbers reflect the activities of the staff in bringing group advising to prospective students throughout Japan. The demand has remained strong in spite of the availability of information nation-wide through the 24-hour telephone fax service.

The Outreach programs were conducted during the fall of 1997 in Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Fukuoka and Naha in cooperation with the American Centers in Osaka (USIS) and the prefectural and city international centers, which have replaced the closed American Centers as our hosts for the program. Each visit consisted of a separate session for undergraduate and graduate programs A special session for advisors was conducted at all sites except for Kyoto.

In addition, EIS was requested to conduct group sessions at universities and education-related organizations. During the 1997-98 period, EIS sent a staff member to group advising sessions at Tsukuba, Tokyo and Waseda Universities, Hachijoji High School, and ALC Press in the Tokyo area as well as to International Centers in Morioka, Sendai, Takamatsu, and Miyazaki.

IV-A-6. U.S. University Fair

The sixth Annual U.S. University Fairs were held in October, 1997 in Tokyo and Osaka as part of the Institute of International Education's Asia Fairs. A total of 128 U.S. colleges and universities participated in Tokyo and 63 in Osaka. The Fairs attracted approximately 1400 prospective students in Tokyo and 500 in Osaka. The majority of attendees were college students rather than high school students, and more females attended than males.

As the principal on-site coordinator, EIS is responsible for organizing and publicizing the fair in Japan and planning the briefing for participants. IIE handles the publicity in the U.S. and the financial aspects. A large exhibit hall was rented from MIPRO (Manufactured Imports Promotion Organization, a Ministry of International Trade and Industry agency) through the U.S. Trade Center for the fair in Tokyo and Osaka International House halls in Osaka. In Osaka, the Osaka International House Foundation acted as the on-site coordinator for JUSEC and the Osaka Foundation for International Exchange (OFIX), who co-sponsored the Osaka Fair.

There were four corporate sponsors for the fairs this year; USA Today, MCI, Study in the USA, and AIU Insurance. Thanks to them, and the fees recovered from participating colleges, the cost of the fairs were more than recovered.

IV-A-7. Pre-Departure Orientation

Pre-departure Program Census

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98	% change
Participants	373	255	300	18%

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Pre-Departure Orientation programs were held at the Tokyo American Center over a period of four days with separate sessions covering undergraduate programs, graduate arts & science programs, graduate natural science programs and MBA and Law programs, and a combined session at the Osaka American Center.

One explanation for the increase in the number of participants in the Pre-departure Orientation is that EIS has begun to collect the addresses of all participants in the monthly advising sessions for use in publicizing the pre-departure orientations. Also, a higher number of individual advising sessions were done in Tokyo and these students are also recruited for the Pre-departure Orientations.

IV-A-8. Cross-Cultural Visits program

This program has been conducted for more than 30 years as a cultural orientation program for Fulbright and other sponsored students in cooperation with the U.S. Embassy and Tokyo American Club Women's Group in the Tokyo metropolitan area, and with American Fulbright grantees living outside of the Tokyo area. Invited to participate in the program include National Personnel Authority, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Ishizaka Foundation, Grew Foundation, Prince Konoe Foundation, College Women’s Association of Japan, and International Development Center of Japan. Through this program, Japanese students are introduced to American families living in Japan with whom they meet periodically until the grantees' departure for the U.S. EIS's informal research shows that participants from both countries are highly enthusiastic about the program.

Cross-Cultural Visit Participants

	1994-95	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Japanese	53	55	51	39
Americans	53	55	51	38

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As seen in the above table, the number of participants was similar to the two preceding years and smaller than the program in 1993-94. The recent decline of participants in the program may be due to an increasing number of Japanese who have been in the U.S. on business, vacation or for other purposes so that they may not feel the need to “learn about America” before departing Japan on their scholarship programs. On the other hand, the number of American families who wanted to participate in the program increased and thus, some such families could not participate due to the smaller number of participating students.

IV-A-9. International Educational Administrator (IEA) Program

EIS staff were involved in the planning of the Japanese IEA program, and were responsible for developing the IEA’s itinerary in the US and for accompanying them on part of their trip. EIS staff also debriefed the IEA’s upon their return to Japan and handled the evaluation of the program.

EIS staff were involved in the American IEA program as part of the JUSEC wide planning team, and also accompanied the IEA’s on many of their visits in Japan.

IV-A-10. EIS/JUSEC Publications

There are 20 basic handouts on U.S. and Japanese education, which are revised as needed. A list of JUSEC publication may be found in Appendix VI. Since EIS has decided to focus on the U.S. undergraduate and graduate education, handouts on high school study and English language study in the U.S. have been eliminated from our publications. These kinds of information can be obtained at the Association of International Education, Japan (AIEJ), an organization affiliated with the Ministry of Education, which provides information and advising service on study abroad, including the U.S., to the public.

JUSEC publishes the Academic Year in Japan for Fulbrighters and other American students and scholars coming to Japan. It is available from NAFSA: Association of International Educators for sale in the U.S. ($10 per copy).

The Pre-Departure Orientation Handbook has been commercially published annually since November, 1993. The latest edition of the Pre-Departure Orientation Handbook ‘99 was published in May, 1998. It cost \1500 per copy and has been made available at the JUSEC library or bookstores throughout Japan. Four thousand copies were printed.

IV-B. Future Considerations

IV-B-1. Technology

EIS, like all service providers which deal primarily in information, needs to continue to plan and implement ways to make its services accessible through the internet. EIS has begun to develop its website and lay plans for on-site registration of all EIS events, as well as increased links to other educational sites and increased information available to users all over Japan.

IV-B-2. Fundraising/Cost Recovery

The new EIS mission statement calls for EIS to look at ways of recovering costs without compromising its integrity or losing sight of its mission. EIS has been for the past several months engaged in long and short term planning around this issue. The primary strategy is to increase corporate sponsorships beyond the current situation in which corporations sponsor the IIE/JUSEC U.S. University Fairs in Tokyo and Osaka.

EIS has already secured corporate sponsorship for its Fairs, Pre-departure Orientations, PD Handbook, and is working to secure it for its monthly advising sessions and its web site.

It is anticipated that the implementation of the fundraising plan will take several years with the final goal of recovering as much as possible of the EIS budget. The immediate short term goals are to make more modest initiatives as we build relationships with corporations, and to continue to develop the overall plan so as to coordinate with the fundraising efforts of JUSEC as a whole.

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