Higher education

18 Nov 2010

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Short description of the higher education system

The term of study at universities is usually four years. The exceptions are courses for medicine, dentistry and veterinary medicine, which require at least 6 years.

There are 87 universities managed by the central government, 86 public universities managed by local governments, and 553 private universities in Japan. (Source: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, 2006).
 

Types of degrees

A standard undergraduate study takes 4 years and results in a bachelor’s degree. After  the bachelor’s degree, students can opt for a doctoral degree. This will take five years (including a two-year master’s course).
 

Quality assurance and accreditation

In Japan, the quality assurance framework consists of the Standards for Establishing University (SEU), the establishment-approval system (EAS) and the Quality Assurance and Accreditation System (QAAS).

The framework has both the advantage of established regulations that assure proper quality in advance and the subsequent monitoring that assures quality is maintained consistently, while respecting the diversity of universities. This combination of systems is assumed to be the most effective and efficient for quality assurance.

With regard to the three-fold quality assurance framework comprised of SEU, EAS, and QAAS, new issues have arisen, and the government deems it necessary to examine the role and interrelationship of these systems with a view to improving their application and enhancing the quality assurance mechanism on the whole.
 

Recent reforms

On 28 January 2005, the Central Council for Education report The Future of Higher Education in Japan was released. The report mainly dealt with the following:

  • Quantitative trends in higher education:
    The capacity (number of enrollees/number of applicants) of universities and junior colleges was expected to reach 100% in 2007. The important issue in the future is the development of a higher education system in which anyone can study the field they choose at the level they desire at the time they wish.
  • Clarification of the diverse functions, individuality and distinctiveness of higher education:
    While higher education in general diversifies, it is necessary to further emphasize the individuality and distinctiveness of each school in order to respond effectively to the various needs of learners.
  • Guaranteeing the quality of higher education:
    Guaranteeing the quality of higher education in order to protect learners and maintain international relevance will be an important issue going forward. For this reason, it is necessary that the approval system for establishing new departments and enhancing the third-party evaluation system is sound.
  • The Ideal Form of Higher Education Institutions:
    In order to enhance education, it is important to review and reform 'liberal arts education' in undergraduate courses and strengthen the organizational development of study programmes at graduate schools.
  • The Role of Society in Aiming for the Development of Higher Education:
    We need to expand the public funding of higher education and to build a multifaceted funding system tailored to the diverse functions of each institution.

The report also describes policies (the 'twelve proposals', etc.) that must be worked on to safeguard the future of higher education.

The ministry intends to continue to actively advance higher education reform based on this report.

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