a glut of

田中真紀子文部科学相が、大学設置・学校法人審議会が来春の開学認可を答申していた秋田公立美術大、札幌保健医療大、岡崎女子大の３大学を不認可としました。文科相の言い分にもうなずける部分もありますが、あまりに唐突で、乱暴な判断という印象はぬぐえません。

Tanaka denies 3 proposed new universities
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Education Minister Makiko Tanaka rejected three applications seeking to create new universities Friday, breaking a 30-year stretch of 100 percent approval rates.

The decision by the education, culture, sports, science and technology minister went counter to a report released Thursday by a ministry council that endorsed the establishment of the new schools.

The Council for University Chartering and School Juridical Persons, an advisory body to the education minister, had suggested in the report that the applications should be given the go-ahead.

The three universities were to be named Akita Municipal College of Fine Arts, planned by the municipal government of Akita, Akita Prefecture; Sapporo University of Health Sciences in Sapporo; and Okazaki Women's University in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture.

At a press conference after a Cabinet meeting Friday, Tanaka said her ministry would "conduct a drastic review of the advisory council system, since the quality of university education has continued to deteriorate."

"The government will not approve any more applications until the review is completed," she said.

Ministry officials said this is the first time in 30 years applications to establish new universities have been rejected by an education minister after being endorsed by the council. The officials said there was nothing particularly wrong with the plans for the three schools.
Due to Tanaka's decision, the three schools, two of which are private, are unlikely to open next spring as they had hoped.

At the press conference, Tanaka referenced a ministry order given in October that disbanded the Horikoshi Gakuen education group in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, due to sloppy management.

"A large number of universities have been established, but the quality of university education itself has been in an alarming decline," she said.

Poorer university education has resulted in problems such as a glut of university graduates who cannot find jobs, she said. "In addition, competition among universities has intensified and many are having trouble making ends meet."

a glut of~のglutそのものは「食物を過剰にする、供給過剰にする」という意味の動詞です（"To fill beyond capacity, especially with food, satiate", "To flood (a market) with an excess of goods so that supply exceeds demand" -American Heritage Dictionary）。

そこから来た、 a glut of~という数量表現は、単にa number of~と言うより、「〜が過剰で満ちあふれる」というニュアンスを表すことができます。（UG）