By Heejun Lim.
Since the COVID-19 broke out, most of the classes in APU has become online classes. Such a change created turmoil regarding tuition fees among students. The argument from students that the tuition fee is too high seemed reasonable because the tuition fee includes the lectures and facility usages, and all the interacting experiences we can utilize, and we cannot access it due to COVID-19. I sent an email to the student office regarding tuition fee on the behalf of APU Times and president Deguchi replied to the mail directly.
When sending the mail to the student office, I asked two main questions: 'Is there any future plan of reducing the tuition fee?' and the other was 'if not, is it possible to know the reasons?'. Long story short, APU does not have any plan to reduce the tuition fee for the moment. In the letter I received, President Deguchi explained why it was impossible in the current situation.
After APU decided to offer all the classes via Zoom, unexpected costs have occurred. The university had to purchase the licensing fee for Zoom, and additional machines so that lectures can be carried out without any issue. Moreover, APU provided subsidies to students to help them access this new learning environment. Not to mention that there are subsidies offered by the Ritsumeikan Trust and donations funded by faculty, staff, and other donors to overcome this situation. A total of 430 million yen was distributed to students through such means.
To conclude, it is difficult to lower the tuition fee because stable administration is “the only reason” that the university can cope with this situation. According to president Deguchi, around half of the university's budget has been used for employee's salaries, and a lack of adequate subsidies from the national government contributes to this issue as well.
After all, members of APU Times are also students who pay tuition fees to the university. Looking from the students' perceptive, we still cannot enjoy campus life to the fullest. On the other hand, president Deguchi’s explanation regarding tuition also makes sense; it is undeniable that we need offices and staff members for various services. While it is important to understand both parties' circumstances and cooperate with gratitude to overcome this situation, we can raise one question. Can you agree with this explanation? If not, what is your argument? A platform for full discussion for only students will be available on SVC
The full letter from President Deguchi is available below.