Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation
for Professional Graduate Business School

Department of Professional Accountancy,
Graduate School of Accountancy, University of Hyogo

Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: PublicLocation: Hyogo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2020
Accreditation Status: accredited （Accreditation Period: April.1.2021 – March.31.2026）

Department of Professional Accountancy of the Graduate School of Accountancy, University of Hyogo

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Results
for Graduate School of Accountancy University of Hyogo Department ofProfessional Accountancy

The Department of Professional Accountancy, the Graduate School of Accountancy,
University of Hyogo (hereinafter referred to as the “Department”) has a distinct purpose“to foster accounting professionals who not only possess competency, professional
ethics, and expertise, but also have highly qualified professional skills including a broad
perspective, the ability to think and judge, an international mindset, and leadership”
and aims to train professional practitioners in audit and tax affairs, companies and suchin private sector, and local governments.
In addition to certified public accountants and tax accountants, the careers ofthose who complete their studies in this Department include accounting professionals
in the finance and management departments of companies and national tax specialists,
and the curriculum is designed to cultivate practical skills for the development of suchcapable students. In particular, a wide range of subjects in the field of public
accounting are available, and each of the specialized subjects necessary for accounting
professionals in the public sector are classified as “advanced courses” or “applied
practical courses.” It can be said the strength of this department is the large number of
specialized and practical subjects that go beyond general content. In addition,emphasis is placed on enhancement of the “case study subjects.” Actual cases ofaccounting, tax, audits, and businesses in local companies and public sector are usedin these subjects, and efforts are being made to improve practical application skills
through working closely with the local community by conducting off-campus training(internships), etc. In these ways, the Department demonstrates the characteristics of aprofessional graduate school in the accounting field that is established in a public
university, and it is commendable that a wide range of accounting professionals arebeing trained.
On the other hand, a significant problem in the Department is the fulfillmentof the quota. The enrollment quota has not been fully met over the years, and although
the number of students increased slightly in AY 2020, the number of applicants must
increase in order to secure students. In this regard, the “Second Phase Medium-term
Objectives and Plan for Public University Corporation of the University of Hyogo”,
which covers a six year period starting in AY 2019, upholds studies of graduate school
reforms, etc. that accurately respond to changes in society. Following the restructuring
1Department of Professional Accountancy of the Graduate School of Accountancy, University of Hyogoof the Faculty of Economics and Management in AY 2019, a decision was made torestructure the four Economics and Management type graduate schools, including thisDepartment, into the Graduate School of Social Sciences starting AY 2021. As a result,
this graduate department will be restructured into the Department of Professional
Accountancy of the said graduate school, and the enrollment quota will change fromthe current 40 students to 20 students. Therefore, with the reduction in the enrollment
quota through the university-wide organizational restructuring, the Department will beable to meet its quota with its current enrollment situation. It is hoped that under thisnew system, the Department will be able to communicate their special educationalfeatures to society and actively secure applicants.
As for other issues, although professional graduate schools are required bylaw to publish information on the circumstances of collaborations with persons inoccupations that require specialization, persons engaged in businesses related to theoccupations, and other related parties, this information for the “CurriculumCollaborative Council” has not been disclosed sufficiently through its website, etc.
Improvement is necessary concerning this matter.
The following points should also be noted regarding educational activities andstudent enrollment. First of all, although class assessment surveys are conducted toconstantly improve the educational programs and methods, the improvements basedon the results of the survey are left to the individual teachers. The survey results must
be utilized for systematic improvements. In addition, because the Department
considers the results of the surveys to date may not have necessarily yielded valid
answers, consideration of effective implementation by devising items on thequestionnaires, etc., is desirable.
Also, for the written examination part in the general entrance examination,
the applicant is able to choose to sit exams for both financial affairs and management
accounting, or only one of them, and the subjects imposed will differ depending on
when the entrance examination takes place, and the choices of the applicants. However,since students are expected to have a certain level of ability in both financial
accounting and management accounting at the time of enrollment, in order to develop
highly specialized professionals in the accounting field, it is expected that more
systemic support for pre-entrance learning will be considered and devised for thosestudents who opted out of these subjects in the entrance examination.
The Department is in the midst of a comprehensive restructuring of thegraduate school as described above. However, to develop capable students with a highlevel of expertise as stated in the University's medium-term vision, the Department2Department of Professional Accountancy of the Graduate School of Accountancy, University of Hyogo

must continue to train highly specialized professionals in the accounting field evenafter organizational restructuring. By making the most of the achievements in
education and research so far, it is expected that the distinct features will be enhanced
and further progress will be achieved under the new system.

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