Toward Quality Assurance in University Education

Abstract

A glance at Japanese universities at present reveals the occurrence of a phenomenal transformation . Comparing the present situation with that of the late 1990s or early 2000s, when the matter of university reform first began to attract attention, we may see that institutions of higher learning —whether with respect to 4-year universities or junior colleges—are now overwhelmingly different than they were at that time. The concept of “university reform ” is, at present, immediately suggestive of reform undertaken at the level of education—whether in the case of specialized vocational high schools , junior colleges , 4-year universities , or even graduate schools .