Corporate hiring policies are also shifting from a preoccupation with academic credentials to an emphasis on ability. Many venture businesses have adopted personnel policies based solely on ability, and graduates of professional training colleges may be employed on the same terms as junior college or university graduates. The most obvious manifestation of this change is the fact that entrance examination candidates and upper secondary school teachers are now seeking information about educational content before choosing universities and other institutions. In the near future universities and other institutions will be open to anyone who has acquired the motivation to learn and the ability to perceive issues through social experience or involvement in volunteer and other activities. This could lead to the formation of an academic environment with greater depth, since the insights that students have gained through work and involvement in society can be expected to contribute excitement and creative tension not only to the student body as a whole but also to the classes provided by teachers.
Graduate study is also likely to become more available to nonacademic members of society.
Higher education is an investment in human progress and prosperity. In periods of rapid social and economic change, it is especially important that universities and other institutions of higher education consider their contribution to society from a broad, long-term perspective. Today universities and other institutions of higher education are redoubling their efforts to respond to social change and rising expectations of higher education through a reform process designed to make them more attractive as centers of education and research. Universities and other institutions must endeavor to enhance the appropriateness and effectiveness of the reforms that they are implementing in response to society's expectations. This must be achieved through active efforts by those connected with universities and other institutions to ensure that changes in higher education are accepted and properly evaluated by society.