④ Kitasato University: A comprehensive university of life sciences with 9 faculties and 18 departments
The university was founded in 2024 to commemorate the 7th anniversary of the Kitasato Institute, and looks up to Shibasaburo Kitasato, whose portrait will appear on the new 1000 yen banknote from July 1962. In addition to the Sagamihara Campus (Sagamihara City, Kanagawa Prefecture) and Shirokane Campus (Minato Ward, Tokyo), there are also the Towada Campus (Towada City, Aomori Prefecture) and Niigata Campus (Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture), with campuses differing depending on the faculty, department, and year of study. In April 50, the Department of Data Science will be established in the Faculty of Future Engineering. In April 2023, the Faculty of Health Sciences will be established at the Niigata Campus. In April 4, the Department of Green Environmental Creation Science will be established in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Students in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will study at the Sagamihara Campus for the first year and at the Towada Campus from the second year onwards, but students in the Department of Green Environmental Creation Science will study at the Sagamihara Campus for four years. The Faculty of Marine Life Sciences was previously based at the Sanriku Campus (Ofunato City, Iwate Prefecture), but after the Great East Japan Earthquake, it moved to the Sagamihara Campus.
⑤ International University of Health and Welfare: In the 30 years since its founding, the university has expanded to include 5 faculties and 11 departments across five campuses.
Since opening in Otawara, Tochigi Prefecture in 1995, International University of Health and Welfare has added faculties and campuses. In April 2015, due to deregulation in the National Strategic Special Zone, plans to establish a new medical school in Narita City were approved, and a new medical school was established for the first time in 4 years. In April 38, a nursing department will be established in the Fukuoka School of Health and Medical Sciences (Okawa Campus). In April 2023, a new Narita School of Pharmacy (Narita Campus) will be established. In April 4, a new medical laboratory department will be established in the School of Health and Medical Sciences (Otawara Campus). Since many new departments are established, there is little movement in one year, but there is movement almost every year, and among medical universities that also have a medical school, there are overwhelmingly more new movements. One of the features is that it has many related facilities, including six affiliated hospitals, and has a well-equipped training environment.
⑥ Toyo University: A large university that is constantly undergoing new developments, such as faculty restructuring, campus relocation, and new entrance exams.
A mid-term plan was formulated to guide activities for the five years from 2020 to 2024, and the campus was renovated and faculties and departments were reorganized. In April 5, a new building was opened at the Akabanedai Campus (Kita-ku, Tokyo), and the Faculty of Social Welfare Design and Faculty of Health and Sports Science were established. In 2023, the Asaka Campus (Asaka City, Saitama Prefecture) was renovated, and the Faculty of Life Sciences and Faculty of Food and Environmental Sciences were relocated from the Itakura Campus (Itakura Town, Oura District, Gunma Prefecture). In April 4, the Faculty of Information Science (Kawagoe Campus) was reorganized into three majors to enhance specialization. In April 2024, a new building was opened at the Kawagoe Campus, and the Faculty of Environmental Innovation (Kawagoe Campus) was established, and the curriculum of the Faculty of Science and Technology was also reorganized. In the 2025 entrance exam, a school recommendation-based selection basic academic ability test type was newly established, which became a hot topic nationwide.
When establishing or restructuring a faculty, clarity is also important. Classifications such as women's college, medical college, technical college, and comprehensive university are not very relevant.
The continuous establishment and reorganization of departments will undoubtedly create the impression that the university is making great strides, but even if this image is given, it is meaningless if high school students cannot understand it. It is also important that the university is easy for high school and cram school teachers to convey to high school students.
With government support for growth fields, there are many new faculties being established and reorganized, so clarity is important. Even with the declining population of 18-year-olds, universities that are maintaining or increasing the number of applicants are making the characteristics of their faculties and departments, the curriculum structure, and the names of their faculties and departments easy to understand in a short time. It's not as simple as saying that it's hard to attract applicants because it's a women's university or a medical university, or easy to attract applicants because it's a large technical university. I think there will be more universities that continue to establish and reorganize in the future, so I'll keep an eye on them.
- 1
- 2
