Photo/Illutration The Professional University of Electric Mobility Systems in Iide, Yamagata Prefecture, has decided to suspend student admissions for the next fiscal year. (Tatsuro Sakata)

IIDE, Yamagata Prefecture--A new vocational college here has had to suspend student admissions due to a lack of interest, dealing a blow to this town’s aspirations of developing into “battery valley.”

Only four students--one freshman and three sophomores--are currently enrolled at the Professional University of Electric Mobility Systems.

When it opened in April 2023, the university had planned on 40 students per grade.

“The decision to suspend admissions for fiscal 2025 was made by the university’s operator,” said a representative of Iide town’s department of commerce, industry and tourism. “This outcome is very regrettable for the town.”

The decision to stop soliciting students was announced on the university’s website under the name of its president, Hiroshi Shimizu .

In his statement, Shimizu expressed “deep regret” for failing to raise the college’s profile. He cited insufficient public relations activities.

The four-year university aimed to provide practical education on the development of electric vehicles and self-driving systems to supply front-line personnel to the industry.

Iide promotes itself as “battery valley.”

The college is operated by Akamon Gakuin in Sendai. The town leases the land to the school operator for free. Akamon Gakuin apparently ended with 350 million yen ($2.3 million) in subsidies for opening the university in Iide.

The college said it “sought until the last minute” ways to improve its business situation or transfer control of the school to another corporation. But all those efforts proved fruitless.

For that reason, Katsumyo Kokubun, who chairs Akamon Gakuin, apparently made the final call to suspend admissions.

In September, when the university explained its decision to stop accepting new admissions, students and their guardians voiced concerns about whether classes would take place as scheduled.

Toshihiro Koseki, the university’s secretary-general, promised that classes would continue until the students graduate.

“They can expect assistance from us in finding employment, too,” Koseki said.

After the current freshman leaves the school in March 2028, the university may well shut its doors for good.

A new framework was put in place in fiscal 2019 to set up specialized professional and vocational universities.

The project to bring the university to Iide was approved by the education ministry at the end of August 2022. It was the first such school in the northeastern Tohoku region.

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