Quality Assurance of Higher Education in Japan and International Collaborations of NIAD-UE

The Japanese quality assurance framework in the higher education sector consists of 'Establishment-Approval System' based on 'Standards for the Establishment of Universities;' and 'Certified Evaluation and Accreditation' whose function is to assure the quality of approved universities. The certified evaluation and accreditation is a mandatory scheme which periodically reviews all of universities, junior colleges, colleges of technology and professional graduate schools by authorized evaluation and accreditation organizations. National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE) has conducted the certified evaluation and accreditation on universities, junior colleges, colleges of technology and law schools. The purposes of the NIADUE's certified evaluation and accreditation are: to assure and enhance the quality of universities' education and research activities by evaluating in accordance with the standards set by NIAD-UE itself; to promote universities' approach to internal quality assurance by providing them with higher quality evaluation and accreditation results; and to assist universities in promoting their activities to the public by clarifying the condition of their activities. National university corporations submit their goals and plans as mid-term goals (six-year) and midterm plans. NIAD-UE conducts the performance-based evaluation of mid-term goals and plans concerning education and research. In addition to the above evaluation activities, NIAD-UE puts emphasis on the international collaborations as one of the core functions. NIAD-UE has two major policies to encourage its own international activities: internationalization of the NIAD-UE's evaluation schemes and the Japanese quality assurance system in higher education; and promotion of international university exchanges from the aspect of quality assurance.