University Accreditation Results(Results for Certified Evaluation and Accreditation for university)

Keio University
Basic Information of the Institution
Ownership: Private

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Accreditation Status
Year of the Review: 2012
Accreditation Status: accredited (Accreditation Period: April 1, 2013 – March 31, 2020)

Related Links
Keio University: http://www.keio.ac.jp/index-en
Full Text of the Accreditation Results (in Japanese):
http://www.juaa.or.jp/accreditation/university/result_2012.html
Accreditation Standards, Process and other related information (in English):http://www.juaa.or.jp/en/accreditation/university.html

2Certified Evaluation and Accreditation Resultsfor Keio University
Notable Strengths
Education and research organization
 It is commendable that Keio University has produced good results as one of the“Global 30” universities that the Japanese government has chosen as a domestic
hub for internationalization. For example, the number of foreign students enrolled
at the university has steadily increased. One Faculty and six Graduate Schools
have offered and implemented educational programs that allow students to acquiredegrees by taking courses in only English. In terms of research, the university has
partnerships with more than 250 universities and research organizations overseas,
which has enhanced exchange.
Educational content, methods, and outcome It is commendable that the university implements a curriculum that promotes an
education of active problem solving. For example, the Faculty of Policy
Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies have madesuch efforts, which include: directing attention to remedial education and first-yeareducation; enhancing students’ foreign language abilities and media literacy skills
necessary for senior projects through “Creative Courses”; having students explore
specific disciplines through “Frontier Courses”; creating courses that look forsolutions for contemporary problems in policy management and environment; and,allowing students to take seminars from their freshman year.
Student support
 It is commendable that the university and alumni join forces to realize theeducational mission of “nurturing individuals who have the ability to think forthemselves and take action on their own.” In particular, the Alumni Registry,
which enables students to meet alumni and ask for career advice, provides
valuable connections based on the university’s long line of graduates.
Approximately 75% of students voluntarily call on alumni and ask them for careeradvice, which proves that students are making good use of this system for career
design and job-hunting.
Suggestions for Improvement
Mission and purpose In their regulations, all the Faculties and Graduate Schools, with the exception of
the Law School, have not stated their educational purposes in terms of fostering of
human resources and carrying out education and research. This should beimproved.
Educational content, methods, and outcome
 Although many Faculties and Graduate Schools (i.e., the Faculty of Letters,
Faculty of Law, Faculty of Science and Technology, Faculty of Policy
Management, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Faculty of Nursing
and Medical Care, Graduate School of Letters, Graduate School of Economics,

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Graduate School of Law, Graduate School of Human Relations, Graduate Schoolof Medicine, Graduate School of Business Administration, Graduate School ofMedia and Governance, Graduate School of Health Management, Graduate Schoolof System Design and Management, and Graduate School of Media Design) havepolicies for awarding degrees, such policies only list the requirements forgraduation and/or completing the program and do not clearly state learningoutcomes of the programs. This should be improved.
 Although the Graduate School of Letters has set policies for organizing andimplementing its curriculum, it does not indicate its basic ideas concerning
educational content and methods. This should be rectified.
 The maximum number of credits students can register for in the Faculty of Letters
is 52 for first-year students, but there is no limit for the second, third, and fourthyears. The maximum number of credits is 52 in the Department of Political
Science at the Faculty of Law, and 50 in the Faculty of Commerce, with no limit in
the Faculty of Science and Technology. This should be improved in accordancewith the purposes of the credit system.
 In all doctoral programs, with the exception of the Law School, some students
complete all the requirements except the dissertation, and leave the university
before completing the dissertation requirement within the time limit set by theuniversity. Later, when these students submit their dissertations, even though they
do not have enrollment status, they are granted doctoral degrees in the samemanner as those students continuously enrolled. The regulations of the programs
allow for these cases. This is inappropriate and should be corrected. The university
should modify the ways to address these cases, and, in accordance with thepurpose of having course-based doctoral programs, should create measures toencourage degree completion within the required time frame.
 In all the Graduate Schools with the exception of the Law School, the criteria forevaluating degree-seeking theses and dissertations are not clarified. This should beimproved by clarifying the criteria in the Course Registration Guide (and otherhandbooks), making them accessible to students.
 In the Graduate School of Medicine, requirements for completing both themaster’s and doctoral programs have not been stipulated. This should be clarified
for the students in the Course Registration Guide (and other handbooks).
Enrollment
 In the last five years, the average of the ratios of enrolled freshmen to freshman
admission cap is high at 1.01 in the School of Medicine and 1.23 in theDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences in the Faculty of Pharmacy. This should
be rectified. The ratio of enrolled students to the student enrollment cap is high at
1.01 in the School of Medicine. The ratio is also high at 1.21 in the Department ofAdministration Engineering and 1.22 in the Department of System Design
Engineering in the Faculty of Science and Technology. The ratio is high at 1.23 in
the Department of Pharmaceutical Science in the Faculty of Pharmacy, and 2.07 in
the doctoral program of the Graduate School of Media Design. In contrast, it is
low at 0.39 in the master’s program in the Graduate School of Economics, and0.45 in the master’s program in the Graduate School of Law. These numbers
should be improved.