Photo source: https://www.keio.ac.jp/ja/about/campus/mita.html
Not only famous for the high-quality education but Keio University is also well-known with those notable alumni who are active from domestic politics, singer to the global stage. Those who enjoy J-POP might know Sho Sakurai, who is a member of Arashi. Former prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, Ryutaro Hashimoto, and Inukai Tsuyoshi are all graduated from Keio University.
Let’s take a look at the information of this prestigious university from aspects of its history, founder, world ranking, acceptance rate, and information about the admission.
Contents
Introduction to Keio University
Keio University, Japanese name 慶應義塾大学 (Keiō Gijuku Daigaku), is a private institution (Mita Campus) located in about 10 minutes walking distance away from Tokyo Tower. This university is part of a larger organization called Keio Gijuku, which is affiliated with elementary and secondary schools in the system as well.
Basic information
- 6 major campuses in Kanto region: Mita Campus, Hiyoshi Campus, Yagami Campus, Shinanomachi Campus, Shonan Fujisawa Campus, and Shiba-Kyoritsu Campus)
- Over 33,400 students, including undergraduate and graduate students.
- 10 undergraduate faculties
| Faculty | Department |
| Faculty of Letters | Humanities and Social Science |
| Faculty of Economics | Economics |
| Faculty of Law | Law |
| Political Science | |
| Faculty of Business and Commerce | Business and Commerce |
| School of Medicine | Medicine |
| Faculty of Science and Technology | Mechanical Engineering |
| Electronics and Electrical Engineering | |
| Applied Chemistry | |
| Applied Physics and Physico-Informatics | |
| Industrial and Systems Engineering | |
| System Design Engineering | |
| Information and Computer Science | |
| Faculty of Policy Management | Policy Management |
| Faculty of Environment and Information Studies | Environment and Information Studies |
| Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care | Nursing |
| Faculty of Pharmacy | Pharmacy |
| Pharmaceutical Sciences |
- 14 graduate schools
| Graduate School of Letters |
| Graduate School of Economics |
| Graduate School of Law |
| Graduate School of Human Relations |
| Graduate School of Business and Commerce |
| Graduate School of Medicine |
| Graduate School of Science and Technology |
| Graduate School of Media and Governance |
| Graduate School of Health Management |
| Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| Graduate School of Business Administration (KBS) |
| Graduate School of System Design and Management (SDM) |
| Graduate School of Media Design (KMD) |
| Law School |
Founder of Keio University: 福澤 諭吉 Yukichi Fukuzawa
Check the ten-thousand yen note in your wallet! The portrait on the Japanese ten-thousand yen note is no one but the founder of Keio University.
As an educator, Yukichi Fukuzawa is not only the founder of Keio but also a Japanese author, and publisher.
Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835–1901) and Okuma Shigenobu, who is the founder of Waseda University, were both born in Kyushu and made great dedication to modern Japan.
Traced back to 1858, Fukuzawa established the school for promoting western education. In the early stages, the institution taught Dutch. Few years later, Fukuzawa’s school switched the focus to English studies in 1863. The institution changed its name to “Keio Gijuku” in 1868, which came from “Keio era” and “Gijuku” as the translation of Private school.
The legacy of Yukichi Fukuzawa can’t be finished in just a few paragraphs. If you are interested in the history of Keio University or Yukichi Fukuzawa, I am sure you will find many fascinating facts on the official site of Keio.
Keio logos
The symbol of a school or company most of the time implies the spirit, belief, and the mission possession all the time. Keio University has three logos which are the Pen Mark, Keio Emblem, and Sanshokuki (Keio’s school flag). The “Pen Mark” is the most seen mark you can find everywhere on the official website. It was said that Keio University started to use the mark from 1900. Tracing back to 1885, the students were inspired from a phrase in the textbook saying “the pen is mightier than the sword”. Since then, students started to put the pen mark on their cap. After the emblem earned more approvement from other students and faculties of Keio, the “Pen Mark” is used until now.
World Ranking
As a university with legendary history and proud achievement, Keio University’s performance in world ranking is correspondingly stellar. According to QS Global World Ranking 2022, Keio University is ranked 201. As to the information provided by Times Higher Education (2021), Keio University is ranked as the 12nd best university in Japan.
Acceptance rate and admission information: all-English programs
The degree programs provided in Keio University are mainly Japanese-taught. It is necessary to be fluent in Japanese if you apply for those programs. If you want to take the courses in full English, Keio provides two programs presented below.
The Global Information and Governance Academic (GIGA) Program
GIGA program, which launched in 2011, is established under both the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies. The campus is located in Shonan Fujisawa Campus (SFC), a beautiful campus in Kanagawa. Focusing on education that integrates technology, science, design, and governance, GIGA promises students an environment with knowledge and skill that meet the needs of this rapid progress era.
Admission information
Recently, Keio made an adjustment on the application period, which Keio named the process AO (Self-Recommended Admissions) Screening. There were four sets of application periods for the same entry, which are named Summer AO, Fall AO, Winter AO, and Spring AO. The modification was announced to combine Summer AO and Fall AO into one application period.
| Enrollment period | Release of Application Guidebook | Application period | Announcement of results | |
| Summer / Fall AO 2021 | April or September 2021 | Mid-May 2021 | Early September 2021 | Late November or early December 2021 |
| Winter AO 2021 | September 2022 or April 2023 | November 2021 | December 2021 to mid-February 2022 | Around late March 2022 |
| Spring AO 2022 | September 2022 or April 2023 | Mid-January 2022 | Early June 2022 | Mid-July 2022 |
Created based on https://giga.sfc.keio.ac.jp/admissions/
- Admission quota: approximately 150 each for the Faculty of Policy Management and the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies
- Students cannot apply to both faculties in the same year
More detailed admission information (requirements, application documents, academic fees) , please check Winter AO 2021 (Global) [Admissions for the GIGA Program] Application Guidebook for those seeking admission in September 2022 or April 2023: https://www.sfc.keio.ac.jp/en/admissions/undergraduate/ao_giga.html
Acceptance Rate
Below are the statistics derived from Application Guidebook for those seeking admission in September 2022 or April 2023, with acceptance rate calculated by the writer of this article.
| Faculty of Policy Management | Applicants | Acceptance | Acceptance Rate(approximately) |
| 2019 entry | 92 | 51 | 55.4% |
| 2020 entry | 117 | 53 | 45.2% |
| 2021 entry | 165 | 43 | 26% |
| Faculty of Environment and Information Studies | |||
| 2019 entry | 115 | 71 | 61.7% |
| 2020 entry | 155 | 76 | 49% |
| 2021 entry | 205 | 38 | 18.5% |
The number of applicants to both faculties have shown remarkable growth year after year, especially between 2020 entry and 2021 entry, about 50 more applicants increased. Since there is no large difference in the number of acceptance between the 2019 and 2020 entry, the acceptance rate seems to decrease. It is even more obvious in the 2021 entry, the acceptance rate comes to the lowest, at the same time with the most applicants within the three years .
Programme in Economics for Alliances, Research and Leadership (PEARL)
Established in 2016, the program belongs to the Faculty of Economics. The beautiful name of this program PEARL also carries the image of pearl that everybody wants. The program is designed to offer international students with courses specialized in economics.
Admission information
Blow is the latest application schedule for september 2022 enrollment:
The table refers to Japan Standard Time (JST) in this application timeline.
| PEARL | Application Period | Announcement of Results |
| first | 10:00 a.m. on October 22, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. on December 3, 2021 | 10:00 a.m. on January 28, 2022 |
| second | 10:00 a.m. on December 8, 2021 – 3:00 p.m. on January 31, 2022 | 10:00 a.m. on February 25, 2022 |
| third | 10:00 a.m. on February 22, 2022 – 3:00 p.m. on April 5, 2022 | 10:00 a.m. on May 27, 2022 |
- Admission is provided in three application periods
- Approximately 100 students will be accepted in total.
- Applications who do not succeed in one application period can apply for another subsequent period.
More detailed admission information (requirements, application documents, academic fees) , please check Admissions Procedures for the PEARL Programme : https://www.keio.ac.jp/en/admissions/undergraduate/pearl/
Acceptance Rate
Below are the statistics derived fromApplication Guidebook for September 2022 Entry, with acceptance rate calculated by the writer of this article.
| PEARL | Applicants | Acceptance | Acceptance Rate(approximately) |
| 2019 entry – first period | 245 | 101 | 41.2% |
| 2019 entry – second period | 188 | 58 | 30.8% |
| 2019 entry – third period | 127 | 23 | 18.1% |
| 2019 entry total | 560 | 182 | 32.5% |
| 2020 entry – first period | 219 | 96 | 43.8% |
| 2020 entry – second period | 186 | 63 | 33.8% |
| 2020 entry – third period | 100 | 32 | 32% |
| 2020 entry total | 505 | 191 | 37.8% |
| 2021 entry – first period | 256 | 99 | 38.6% |
| 2021 entry – second period | 200 | 53 | 26.5% |
| 2021 entry – third period | 119 | 22 | 18.4% |
| 2021 entry total | 575 | 174 | 30.2% |
In general, the acceptance rate does not have a significant difference within the 2019 to 2021 entry. There are around five to six hundred applicants per year with around thirty percent of them being accepted. Something worth notice is that within the three applicant period, the number of being accepted goes lower and lower. So, it would always be better for you to apply for the first period!
Summary
If you are still wondering which college to apply for, I suggest you had better check and write down the admission information of all the colleges you are considering in your note. Important information including the application period, document sending period, necessary documents and so on. In many universities in Japan, they consider those application rules above all. Sometimes they accept no incomplete applications, and late applications.
Lastly, hoping those information about the background information, world ranking, and acceptance rate of Keio university above helps you better understand the institution well.
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