Truly Strong Universities

The "Truly Strong Universities" (Japanese: 本当に強い大学 Hepburn: Hontōni Tsuyoi Daigaku) is a ranking of Japan’s top 100 universities by publisher Toyo Keizai released annually, in October, in its business magazine of the same name. "Toyo Keizai" means "Oriental Economy".

There are several lists ranking Japanese universities, often called Hensachi, with most measuring them by their entrance difficulty, or by their alumni's successes. The Hensachi Rankings have been most commonly used as a reference for a university's rank.[1]

Given this context, "Truly Strong Universities" (TSU) is a unique ranking system which ranks Japanese universities using eleven multidimensional indicators related to financial strength, education and research quality, and graduate prospects. It does not include any indicator of entrance difficulty. The system attempts to evaluate the university's strengths and the performance of its alumni, rather than students' prior academic abilities, or the brand of the college.

History

Toyo Keizai first published the "TSU" rankings in 2000.[2] Its initial aim was to analyze private universities as companies, and conduct a financial analysis of them, which had rarely been attempted before by other mass-media. It also tried to focus on a practical point of view such as business-academia collaboration, students' academic achievements, and career support.

In 2004, the ranking system was reorganized with more multidimensional factors to capture universities not only as business organizations but also as educational and research institutions. In 2005, the report began to analyze national universities; they have been included in the rankings since 2006.

Methodology

The "TSU" ranking is designed to assess a university's strength as an organization. It uses eleven indicators in three categories. The eleven indicators contribute equally to the rankings after the calculation of standardized scores. "TSU" picked 181 major Japanese universities for its evaluation.[3]

Financial strength

The financial strength concept consists of "Applicants' increasing ratio (%)", "Recurring profit margin (%)", "External fund gaining ratio (%)" and "Capital adequacy ratio (%)".

Education and research quality

Education and research quality is measured using "Spendings for education and research per income (%)", "Number of GP gainings", "Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (million yen)" and "Student/faculty ratio (%)".

Graduate prospects

Graduate prospects are evaluated using "Employment rate (%)", "Number of alumni as executives in listed companies in Japan" and "Average graduate salary at 30 years old (million yen)".

Effects

As Toyo Keizai is one of 3 Japan's leading business magazines, this ranking system is well known in Japan. When it is released, several news resources frequently report the rankings, and many universities announce their ranking.[4][5][6] In fact, sales of the magazine are higher than usual when the ranking is released.[2] Toyo Keizai stated it has received many responses from readers.[2]

Rankings such as Employment Rate and Average Graduate Salary, which is more practical for students than the overall rankings, is often cited.[4]

2011 rankings

The TSU Rankings in 2011 listed the University of Tokyo as being ranked first in Japan, and it has been ranked first six years in a row in this ranking system. Keio University fell to third, replaced by Kyoto University, after having been ranked second four times in a row.

Toyota Technological Institute climbed to fourth place in the rankings thanks to large financial support from Toyota, whereas other universities have been suffering a decrease in grants.[7]

In 2011, there were thirteen national universities, five private universities and two public universities in the top twenty rankings.

Top 40 in the TSU Rankings

Overall Rank 2011 Overall Rank 2010 Overall Rank 2009 Overall Rank 2008 University Type Overall Score Applicants' Increasing ratio (%) Recurring profit margin (%) External Fund Gaining Ratio (%) Capital Adequacy Ratio (%) Edu+Res Spendings per Income (%) Number of GP gainings Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Million Yen) Student/Faculty ratio (%) Employment rate (%) Alumni as executives in listed companies Average graduate salary at 30 (Million Yen)
1 1 1 1 University of Tokyo National 71.9 -11.9 3.5 41.2 81.2 34.1 1 22,585.29 10.6 71.1 1,935 6.19
2 3 4 3 Kyoto University National 63.1 -32.3 5.0 39.0 63.9 36.3 0 13,425.79 7.9 80.1 1,023 6.06
3 2 2 2 Keio University Private 62.7 5.9 -1.2 24.3 73.9 45.8 5 3,029.38 22.3 81.9 2,278 6.34
4 5 7 6 Toyota Technological Institute Private 61.1 0.9 9.7 73.9 97.9 39.4 1 31.94 11.2 100.0 0 5.27
5 4 3 4 Osaka University National 60.1 12.4 2.5 36.0 68.8 37.8 2 10,823.53 8.0 80.8 520 5.67
6 6 5 5 Waseda University Private 58.7 7.0 1.7 15.2 84.0 43.1 3 2,205.69 36.8 75.2 1,989 6.09
7 17 18 11 Hitotsubashi University National 58.5 -6.6 -0.1 16.1 88.3 25.5 1 913.71 19.7 87.5 598 6.54
8 7 6 7 Tohoku University National 57.6 -23.3 0.7 39.1 56.0 40.5 3 10,275.66 10.2 83.4 372 5.66
9 12 32 13 Nagoya City University Public 57.5 -2.2 2.3 21.4 61.2 46.2 1 620.19 8.1 89.0 36 6.24
10 14 10 9 Hokkaido University National 57.1 -5.4 3.3 28.8 69.2 34.7 1 5,893.21 8.2 72.2 266 6.00
11 21 15 33 Nagoya University National 56.9 -29.0 -1.1 31.8 48.2 40.0 0 6,199.77 11.5 90.1 349 6.10
12 8 8 14 Kyushu University National 56.8 -8.9 -0.0 28.9 63.5 39.9 4 6,099.05 12.7 80.2 374 5.95
13 10 12 21 Kobe University National 56.6 -4.4 1.5 23.7 67.3 38.6 4 2,508.38 15.2 84.3 432 5.98
14 28 73 63 Osaka City University Public 55.9 -12.0 3.5 18.7 72.9 40.9 1 848.80 12.8 73.9 174 6.05
15 9 9 32 Kitasato University Private 55.8 -3.6 7.3 36.9 83.6 44.9 3 432.30 13.3 86.7 6 5.81
- 11 26 45 Kwansei Gakuin University Private 56.7 36.1 33.8 33.2 82.9 25.4 2 329.36 31.9 81.7 427 5.98
- 13 13 8 Tokyo Institute of Technology National 56.0 1.2 -0.4 41.7 81.8 30.6 1 4,990.47 12.3 91.3 190 5.63
- 15 18 11 Hiroshima University National 54.9 -2.3 1.4 21.3 73.5 36.4 4 2,420.58 10.6 83.9 111 5.54
- 16 - 15 University of Tsukuba National 54.5 -12.6 2.1 19.0 74.3 36.1 2 3,229.17 11.1 79.8 52 6.15
- 18 14 12 Doshisha University Private 54.0 21.4 11.9 9.1 86.3 32.5 5 473.31 41.5 78.6 533 5.79
- 19 37 39 Shibaura Institute of Technology Private 54.0 64.3 6.7 11.7 83.2 41.0 3 145.90 28.0 89.7 111 5.42
- 20 23 34 Tokyo University of Foreign Studies National 53.8 18.3 0.9 12.3 89.1 22.9 5 307.67 16.8 75.9 42 6.11
- 22 17 18 Chiba University National 53.8 -12.1 2.9 22.3 76.6 40.0 2 1,861.53 11.3 80.6 73 5.52
- 23 27 - Gifu University National 53.7 72.6 2.1 18.4 46.9 43.6 0 622.55 13.3 91.2 42 6.01
- 24 22 20 Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology National 53.7 50.0 9.4 7.7 82.2 29.5 3 1,040.15 13.5 79.4 45 5.75
- 25 31 71 Tokyo University of Agriculture Private 53.6 79.1 16.4 5.5 91.9 32.2 3 245.19 13.5 80.4 28 5.75
- 26 19 29 Meiji University Private 53.4 50.0 9.4 7.7 82.2 33.6 3 431.43 35.4 76.5 712 5.83
- 27 36 - Oita University National 53.4 12.8 2.2 16.4 65.2 40.9 3 279.57 14.8 83.2 44 5.71
- 29 11 57 Tsuda College Private 53.3 -7.1 13.7 14.4 95.2 24.4 4 22.49 31.3 83.2 2 6.10
- 30 24 35 Kansai University Private 53.2 13.6 10.6 6.6 89.1 37.5 5 374.20 47.4 74.4 405 5.76
- 31 33 44 Kinki University Private 53.2 33.2 10.4 16.0 88.9 42.3 1 452.50 25.0 75.3 165 5.68
- 32 47 69 Okayama University National 53.0 -9.9 1.9 21.4 60.6 41.5 1 2,156.89 9.8 88.4 90 5.71
- 33 46 96 Hakuoh University Private 52.9 195.1 4.2 6.3 87.8 33.2 1 9.14 40.8 83.2 0 5.49
- 34 25 27 Chuo University Private 52.6 23.4 6.1 8.3 80.6 34.5 3 340.99 44.9 75.3 1,090 5.81
- 35 34 40 Tokyo Metropolitan University Public 52.5 -7.7 4.8 16.0 86.6 28.1 1 1,100.64 17.3 83.9 77 5.60
- 36 43 19 Kanazawa Institute of Technology Private 52.4 -28.9 -0.4 6.8 85.4 44.7 5 111.42 22.1 88.4 90 5.41
- 37 51 - University of Miyazaki National 52.1 -25.9 1.4 16.7 64.5 42.5 2 421.92 8.3 73.4 12 6.24
- 38 38 26 Ritsumeikan University Private 51.9 -20.8 13.1 8.8 89.3 36.5 2 870.06 32.4 79.9 314 5.79
- 39 55 - Kagawa University National 51.9 -10.1 -0.5 14.7 60.5 38.6 3 410.01 9.3 88.6 45 5.85
- 40 - 50 Gunma University National 51.9 -18.2 1.5 21.3 46.6 46.4 3 774.61 13.4 93.0 49 5.19

Criticisms

Toyo Keizai admitted that the ranking system has three main problems.[2] First, the ranking has a tendency to be affected by single-year factors such as the gain of capital by the sale of assets. Because of this, it is recommended that readers look at the ranking of each university over the course of several years. Second, the value of university's brand is not reflected in the rankings. For this reason, some prestigious universities are unfairly placed in low positions. Third, there are no individual categories, such as private or public schools. As such, the universities' individual characteristics and strengths are not adequately considered. Furthermore, the total amount spent per student does not include labor costs, thereby improperly evaluating the Liberal Arts Colleges which spend significant amounts on labor (e.g. International Christian University).[8]

References

  1. ↑ 増田 晶文 "大学は学生に何ができるか" 2003
  2. 1 2 3 4 http://www.zam.go.jp/pdf/00000255.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.toyokeizai.net/business/industrial/detail/AC/7ca97f085eda34ce139f6d1210cef898/page/13/
  4. 1 2 E.g. Nagoya University of Commerce of Business http://www.nucba.ac.jp/university/ranking/20101016toyo.html
  5. ↑ E.g. Kinki University http://www.hiro.kindai.ac.jp/news/125671960613649.html
  6. ↑ E.g. Kyushu Institute of Technology http://www.iizuka.kyutech.ac.jp/20091024p.html
  7. ↑ http://toyokeizai.net/articles/-/7981
  8. ↑ http://ameblo.jp/bafana-bafana/entry-10050562170.html

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