NIAD-QE University Quality Assurance Forum 2023
Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Public Provision of Education Informationin Japanese Higher Education
SUGITANI YumikoCollege of Education, Psychology andHuman Studies, Aoyama Gakuin University1Overview
The presenter will address issues concerning the public provision of education information capturing
the Japanese College and University Portraits (JPCUP), based on the experience of a researcher onhigher education, a private university professor, a member of the JPCUP Stakeholders Board, and anacting member of the Subcommittee for Quality Assurance System of the University Committee of theCentral Council for Education.
Primary data on Japanese higher education:
Aggregate data
Basic School Survey (MEXT)(Private universities) Admission
Application Trends(Private universities) The Current
Financial Condition of PrivateInstitutions

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Data on individual institutions
National Directories of Universities (MEXT)JPCUP
The True Strength of Universities (Keisetsujidai)
University Ranking (Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.)All University Entrance Examination Records (SundayMainichi)
Truly Strong Universities (Toyo Keizai Inc.)

Comparative data collected by survey
respondents
Nationwide Survey of University Students (MEXT)
The Institutional Research Consortium ofJapanese Universities
PROG Test (Kawaijuku Educational Institution,RIASEC, Inc.)
GPS-Academic (Benesse i-Career Co., Ltd.)In addition to data from MEXT, there is an abundance of information from private companies. However, public databases remain a challenge
in improvement (based on Morozumi 2022, Table 1).

Public provision of education information
Purpose of specification of the education information to be provided (2011)
Promote institutional accountability to society and improve education quality as a publicorganization(Enforcement of the Ministerial Ordinance that Partially Revises the Regulation for Enforcement of theSchool Education Act [June 16, 2010])

Public information provision (kohyo), rather than information disclosure (kokai)
Kokai: Making information available to those who need it
Kohyo: Disseminating information to the public widely, regardless of whether it is demanded＝ The party who has the information actively provides it(Kawashima 2012)3

Objectives of JPCUP
Provide information on the diverse education activities of universities and colleges in acomprehensible manner to various people in Japan and elsewhere, thereby enhancing theaccountability of universities and colleges, supporting college choices of those who wish toparticipate in higher education, and increasing the international recognition of higher education
institutions in Japan
Accelerate the qualitative transformation of university education by strengthening the evidencebased PDCA cycle within the university and enhance the quality assurance system throughexternal evaluation using education information to better understand and analyze the conditionof their own activities
Help universities and colleges respond to various surveys and improve the efficiency of university
management by establishing a common mechanism for the public provision of fundamental
information
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JPCUP is not for comparing universities. It is a tool for understanding the individual characteristics of each university
and the type of education being offered.
(https://portraits.niad.ac.jp/about/index.html)

JPCUP Structure

Voluntary and autonomous initiatives
by university and college association,
certified evaluation and accreditation(CEA) organizations, and other bodies
Started providing information on
private universities and juniorcolleges in October 2014
Started providing information on
national, public, and private
universities and junior colleges inMarch 20155(https://portraits.niad.ac.jp/about/index.html)

Items provided on JPCUP (Japanese version)

6Opinions from the Stakeholders Board
Credibility of information
Comparability of information
Richness of information
Understanding the characteristics of the university

Challenges

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Increased page views
Increased awareness by schools, companies, etc.
Increased items and enhanced search functions
Surveyability and comparability
Updating to the latest information
User assistanceCollecting and providing information for use in institutional researchPrioritization

What stakeholders want (top 5 items)(%)

8(Based on Kobayashi 2019)

How JPCUP is improving
Items largely common to both the national/public edition and the privateedition
Addition of provided items and search functions
Mobile support

Items currently available only in the national/public edition

9International dissemination (the private edition: still being considered), multilingual support
Surveyability of (1) expenses and financial support, (2) information on entrance examinations,and (3) student dormitories
Function to create a common basic data form for certified evaluation and accreditation (theprivate edition: considering what data to provide)
Launch of a website for the national and public university information (basic universityinformation) (the private edition: provides reports to their parent organizations; the information
is used in management consultation).
Web-API function(Based on The Current Status of JPCUP, 2023)

Proposals by the Subcommittee for Quality Assurance
SystemThe “matters concerning university entrance examinations” and other topics should be added to the items to be provided
by each university as stipulated in the Regulation for Enforcement of the School Education Act.
Based on the “Policy for Management of Teaching and Learning,” universities’ efforts to provide information should be
examined in the certified evaluation and accreditation (CEA).
Consideration should be given to the provision of a list of evaluation results determined by each CEA organization.
Implement measures to simplify evaluation items and methods regarding legal compliance for universities that provide
information accordingly regarding legal compliance.
Information should be provided on JPCUP in a comprehensible manner so that it can be delivered effectively andefficiently to users, considering that JPCUP is managed autonomously by the university community. Improvements should
also be made so that universities locate in the same are or has the same specialized fields can be compared with one
another for use in institutional research for teaching and learning (by presenting a common benchmark).
Regarding the public provision of information that contributes to the quality assurance of university education andresearch, there should be ongoing considerations regarding measures to encourage universities to provide information
voluntarily and autonomously. Such considerations include: how to ensure the provision of appropriate items for an
appropriate target (i.e., students, parents, prospective students, the local community, companies, etc.); how to create
methods to communicate the strengths and characteristics of each university, for example, relevant initiatives fromuniversities could be presented along with a method for interpreting information.
10(Based on the overview and the main text from the “Summary of Discussion” by the Subcommittee for Quality Assurance System [2022])

Toward surveyability and comparability
Difficulties in listing and providing individual data of private universities

Tight operations with limited funds
Fundamental question on comparing national/public institutions with private institutions that have different
management bases and operating policies
Risk of causing reputational damage, unintended ranking, etc.
Providing statistical data and information via a private university information provision system and individual
inquiry, respectively(Material 2 from the 16th meeting of the Steering Committee for JPCUP [February 10, 2022])

Examples of information expected to be compared(1) university name, (2) location, (3) faculty names, (4) expenses, (5) amount of scholarships awarded, (6)website address, (7) items evaluated by CEA organization, (8) job-placement data, (9) department names, (10)location, (11) expenses, (12) diploma policies, (13) curriculum policies, (14) capacity, (15) type of entrance
examination, (16) name of degrees, (17) graduation rate
Analysis and clarifications regarding each university, such as what the information means and why certain
results were obtained, could also be provided.

11(The subcommittee on information disclosure of the management committee of the Japan Association of Private Universities and Colleges, 2022)

Initial concept in the 2010s
Creation of a forum for promoting the utilization and public provision of education information: Prioritizing
katsuyo (utilization) over kohyo (public provision).
(Expert meeting for supporting the utilization and promoting the public provision of education information at universities, 2011)

Distinguishing kohyo (public provision) from katsuyo (utilization), discussing kohyo firstEmphasis on university applicants and their parents among various stakeholders
Paper-view format to avoid uniform ranking
Step-by-step initiatives toward information utilization (consideration/initiation by university associations
under each parent en□ty) → implementa□on through agreement among universi□es (associa□ons)
Use and partial provision of aggregate information (mean, median, and distribution) and other data by
each university group
Consideration of the scope of information that can be provided to university evaluation organizations,consortiums, etc., and the related procedure
Information collection by the JPCUP Center, provision of information regarding the analysis method, andfostering of institutional research personnel(Working Group, Provisional Committee for Japanese College and University Portraits [provisional name], 2012, 2014)12

Challenges

Distinguish among the data to be collected, shared, and provided.
Identify each of the purpose of collecting, sharing, and providing data and its users.
Consider what contents should be surveyable and comparable, how, and to whom.
Whether the above should be performed through a single medium or plural access points.
Consider in connection with certified evaluation and accreditation (CEA) and the public provision ofeducation information.
Along with the importance of showing the diverse and multifaceted characteristics of universities,
convey actively what information can be important to measure the quality of universities, how tointerpret it, and how to use it (to foster a culture of information utilization at the university andamong stakeholders).
Expect autonomous provision of information from the university community and the utilization ofsuch information.
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主要参考文献
浅田和伸（2014）「『大学ポートレート』の構築」『IDE 現代の高等教育』No.563,pp.60-66
浅野茂（2016）「データベースの構築とIRの課題」『高等教育研究』第19集,pp.49-66
中央教育審議会大学分科会質保証システム部会（2022）「新たな時代を見据えた質保証システムの改善・充実について（審議まとめ）」
大学における教育情報の活用支援と公表の促進に関する協力者会議（2011）「大学における教育情報の活用・公表に関する中間まとめ」
大学ポートレート（仮称）準備委員会ワーキンググループ（2012）「大学ポートレート（仮称）構築のための論点整理」
大学ポートレート（仮称）準備委員会ワーキンググループ（2014）「大学ポートレート（仮称）構築のための論点整理（その２）」
一般社団法人日本私立大学連盟経営委員会情報公開検討分科会（2022）「私立大学の情報公表−自律性、公共性、信頼性・透明性、継続性の観点から−【最終報告】」金子元久（2016）「大学教育改革のダイナミクスとIR」『高等教育研究』第19集,pp.9-24
川嶋太津夫（2012）「教育情報公表の現状」『IDE 現代の高等教育』No.542,pp.21-26
小林浩（2019）「社会から見た大学の情報公開の在り方について ~ステークホルダーの視点から考える～」（中央教育審議会大学分科会教学マネジメント特別委員会（第9回）資料2）
両角亜希子（2022）「高等教育データの現在」『IDE 現代の高等教育』No.641,pp.14-19
浅田和伸（2014）「『大学ポートレート』の構築」『IDE 現代の高等教育』No.563,pp.60-66
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大学ポートレート（仮称）準備委員会、大学ポートレート運営会議、大学ポートレートステークホルダー・ボード各資料