Announcement of the Launch of the "University DX Partnership Concept," a Next-Generation Educational Infrastructure Co-created with University Corporations

Aoba-BBT, Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, President and CEO: Iwao Shibata, hereinafter "the Company") announces the launch of the "University DX Partnership Concept" (hereinafter "this Concept") to co-create a new form of university management utilizing online education, AI technology, and management know-how, together with university corporations facing structural challenges in Japanese university education.

This Concept aims to share knowledge with more university corporations, building on the foundation of our business alliance with Hokuriku Gakuin Educational Corporation and our joint research and collaboration track record with national and private universities and educational institutions.

1. Background — Structural Changes Surrounding the University Sector
Japan's 18-year-old population has continued to decline since its peak in the 1990s and is expected to shrink to about three-quarters of its current level by 2040. According to data published by the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, over half of the private universities failed to meet their enrollment quotas in the 2025 academic year application trends.

Furthermore, in April 2026, discussions on optimizing the scale of private universities were published by the Fiscal System Council, indicating that the structural transformation of the university sector is now recognized as a national-level issue.

Under these circumstances, the roles that universities should fulfill have expanded in multiple layers: providing recurrent education opportunities for all generations, collaborating with local communities and industries, and establishing new learning formats utilizing digital technology. Advancing this transformation alone is not easy for many universities.

2. The Company's Track Record of Collaboration with Universities and Educational Institutions
Since its founding in 1998, the Company has developed online-only higher education as its core business. We provide educational opportunities to a wide range of age groups through three main pillars: recurrent business through online learning centered on BBT University and Graduate School, international education business such as Aoba-Japan International School, and corporate human resource development business.

In recent years, we have steadily accumulated knowledge and achievements through collaboration with various universities and educational institutions, and our initiatives have garnered social attention. The main collaboration achievements are as follows.

(1) Hokuriku Gakuin Educational Corporation ~ Joint Initiatives through Comprehensive Business Alliance ~
On January 7, 2025, we concluded a "Business Management Agreement" and a "Basic Agreement on the Succession of Director Status, etc." with Hokuriku Gakuin Educational Corporation (Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Chairperson: Makiko Horioka), and commenced a business alliance on February 25 of the same year. Respecting the history and educational philosophy of the institute founded in 1885 (the university opened in 1950), and ensuring the "continuation of Christian education" and "retention of the Hokuriku Gakuin name," we are promoting the following initiatives together with the institute:
- Joint design of the Department of Social Management, Faculty of Sociology at Hokuriku Gakuin University (planned to be established in 2026). A unique curriculum combining face-to-face classes at the Hokuriku Gakuin University campus for the 1st and 2nd years, and online classes from BBT University for the 3rd and 4th years.
- Strengthening consistent English and international understanding education from kindergarten to university.
- Promoting the concept of the Aoba-Japan International School Kanazawa Campus.
- Expanding employment support and recurrent education by strengthening collaboration with local companies.

(2) Demonstration of AI Real-time Translation System at National Universities
In collaboration with a national university, the Company is conducting joint research on a real-time AI translation system for on-site classes utilizing the educational platform "AirCampus® Session Subtitle Channel." With this system, which supports speech recognition in 42 languages and translation into 140 languages, we aim to provide a new learning experience where foreign students can overcome language barriers in Japanese-taught classes.
[Past Press Release] (January 6, 2025) Aoba-BBT begins joint research with Shinshu University! Real-time AI translation of classroom lectures displayed on students' smartphones.

(3) Provision of Educational Infrastructure for Government and Local Government Projects
Our online educational platform "AirCampus®" has a track record of over 21 years of operation and is widely adopted as a common infrastructure in higher educational institutions and government projects. The main adoption achievements are as follows:
- Provision of learning platform and courses for the Cabinet Office's "Regional Revitalization College" (2017)
- Provision of learning platform for the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's "IB Education Promotion Consortium Project" (2018-2026)
- Provision of learning platform for MEXT's "Recurrent Education Promotion Project Utilizing Universities, etc." (2024)
- Provision of learning platform for MEXT's "Worldwide Learning Consortium Project" (2025)
- Utilization track record as a corporate training delivery platform for over 1,500 companies nationwide.

3. Overview of this Concept — 4 Flexible Collaboration Models
In this Concept, based on the knowledge obtained from the above collaboration achievements, the interests of university corporations