Courses usually last for one semester, but in the Law, Letters, and General Education Faculties, most courses continue for one full academic year. Course Load Students generally carry a load of 15 to l8 courses, each course meeting for one period, once a week. Class Size and Instruction Methods Class size varies greatly depending upon the department and type of course. In the Faculty of General Education, the size of a normal language class is 50. The main method of instruction is by lecture, although advanced courses with fewer students may be conducted as seminars.
Many departments use a tutorial method for fourth year students.
Unlike the system found in most Western universities, a grade of Fuka is not officially recorded on the student's permanent record, and the student may repeat a course as often as is needed to pass it. The number of credits achieved, rather than grade point average, determines a student's graduation status. Transfer Once accepted to a university, a Japanese Student almost never transfers to another university. One reason is that credits are not usually transferable, so a student would have to begin over again with the taking of the new university's entrance examination. Kumamoto University has a Guest Scholar system for foreign scholars who wish to do research at the University.