1. YNU
  2. Education
  3. Educational Policy
  4. Policy on Accepting Entrants (Admissions Policy)

Policy on Accepting Entrants (Admissions Policy)

Type of Student YNU Seeks to Enroll The Knowledge, Skills, and Level of Aptitude YNU Requires of Entrants Methods of Entrant Selection

Type of Student YNU Seeks to Enroll

YNU seeks to enroll students who wish to acquire academic knowledge and interact with friends from around the world in the superb natural setting of the university’s Tokiwadai Campus as they develop the intellectual flexibility and independent, creative skills needed to seek out and solve issues. Applicants should be motivated to become leaders within society who will contribute to the development of an inclusive global community. The university seeks individuals:

  • with broad basic academic ability who want to develop solid knowledge and skills
  • with intellectual curiosity and a spirit of scientific enquiry who want to gain the intellect and judgment to generate new findings and ideas
  • who want to gain a strong sense of motivation and responsibility to cooperate with a diverse range of people and participate independently in society to solve the issues it faces
  • who want to take on the challenges of a borderless global era by enhancing their communicative proficiency with students from other countries in order to express themselves and be successful on the world stage
  • who want to continue their studies at a graduate school and develop even more advanced knowledge and skills to contribute to society as advanced professionals

Policy on selection of university entrants

YNU’s selection of university entrants is premised on a university education system wherein the university extends and enhances abilities developed by entrants up to and including the senior high school stage, then makes those abilities available to society. Selection is according to the policy on graduation approval and granting degrees (Policy 1: Diploma Policy) and the policy on organizing and implementing curricula (Policy 2: Curriculum Policy) drawn up by each college/department/bachelor’s degree program. It entails multifaceted and comprehensive assessment of the three elements of academic ability the university requires of applicants (described in more detail below, these are knowledge/skills, intellect/judgment/communicative ability, and an independent attitude to study). Each college/department/bachelor’s degree program clearly indicates in advance the specific subjects to be taken at high school and endeavors to diversify its entrance examination methods and develop more multidimensional measures of assessment, giving due consideration to the relationship between skills assessed and the curricula to be followed after entering the university.

The three elements of academic ability

  • Basic, fundamental knowledge and skills
  • Intellect, judgment, and communicative ability required to use one’s knowledge and skills to personally identify issues, seek solutions to those issues, and describe the outcomes
  • An attitude to study that entails both acting independently and cooperating with a diverse range of people

The Knowledge, Skills, and Level of Aptitude YNU Requires of Entrants

The knowledge, skills, and level of aptitude required of entrants to YNU is judged by means of multifaceted and comprehensive entrance examinations employing the National Center Test and individual academic ability tests. Each individual college/ department/ bachelor’s degree program stipulates its own policy on accepting entrants (Policy 3: Admissions Policy). In addition, the Education Center plays a central role in pursuing the following initiatives on behalf of the entire university with the aim of achieving high school and university articulation system reform.

  • Reforms entrance examinations to enable high school and university articulation with career formation at its core in order to cultivate talented, societally-minded individuals compatible with the new global age
  • Contributes to extending YNU’s global reach spearheaded by YNU Global Education Core (YNU-GEC) by expanding and improving the university’s entrance examination system to make it more approachable for overseas applicants. This includes offering online application and pre-Japan-visit entrance examinations
  • Makes use of overseas bases for education and research cooperation to pursue high school and university articulation with overseas high schools?i.e., overseas and university articulation
  • Promote an application method that allows applicants to apply to the university without specifying a department during the selection process in order to implement educational programs based on late specialization (a method of organizing curricula whereby students choose a department to belong to after entering the university, having studied a comprehensive range of subjects and taken basic courses, rather than when they enter the university)

Policy for implementing academic ability tests

  • Implement individual academic ability tests using appropriate methods conforming to the Japanese government’s prescribed courses of study for high schools and taking due care to ensure that the tests do not impede the normal progress of high school education.
  • The subjects and courses to be tested in individual academic ability tests are set by each college/department/bachelor’s degree program according to its policy on accepting entrants (Policy 3: Admissions Policy). Subjects and courses are selected from among those stipulated in the Japanese government’s prescribed courses of study, giving consideration to the effects on high school education.
  • Admissions Office (AO) entrance examinations avoid selection criteria focused excessively on the extent to which knowledge and skills have been acquired, instead making use of oral interviews and other tests, results obtained in the National Center Test, and other means, to determine applicants’ attributes including their abilities, aptitude, motivation, and interest in a multifaceted, comprehensive manner.
  • Recommendation-based entrance examinations use GPAs for high school subjects as application requirements and to determine whether students are accepted. Such examinations make use of tests including written, practical, and oral tests, results obtained in the National Center Test, and other means, to determine applicants’ attributes including their abilities and aptitude in a multifaceted, comprehensive manner.
  • Examinations for students returned from overseas or for company employees take into account such factors as the differences in education overseas or the time elapsed since high school graduation. To ensure that a range of applicants can be selected according to their abilities and aptitude, these applicants are exempted from part or all of the academic ability test, and their attributes including their abilities and aptitude are instead determined in a multifaceted, comprehensive manner using an appropriate combination of methods such as essays or interviews.

    • Methods of Entrant Selection

    YNU selects entrants in accordance with its Application Guidelines, which sets out everything applicants need to know regarding their applications, including the policy on accepting entrants (Policy 3: Admissions Policy); the number of places available; application requirements and procedures; examination dates, methods, and venues; the entrance examination fee; and other costs necessary for university admission including their amounts, payment procedures and due dates.

    Organizational arrangements for entrant selection

    YNU optimizes its organizational arrangements for selecting entrants to ensure that selection is conducted impartially and fairly, and to avoid leaks of entrance examination questions or other situations that might compromise the credibility of its entrant selection process. This entails clearly disclosing lines of responsibility leading to the university president, and ensuring the competence of faculty members or staff assigned to handle entrance examinations. YNU also endeavors to prevent examinees from cheating through means such as exercising care over the positioning of chairs when setting up examination halls, informing examinees of what constitutes cheating and of the penalties, checking their belongings, and conducting sufficient patrols of examination halls.

    Methods of providing information regarding entrance examinations

    In addition to providing applicants with information regarding entrance examinations via the Application Guidelines, information including content useful for choosing a college is also provided by other means including the university’s Guide Books, fairs and meetings, and website. Such information, to be provided for each college/ department/ bachelor’s degree program, includes the policy on accepting entrants (Policy 3: Admissions Policy), details of education and research options and their distinguishing features, overviews of student life and the costs involved, the number of applicants in previous years and the number accepted, and opportunities available post-graduation. In addition, the university strives to release examples of standard answers to questions set in academic ability tests, also explaining the point of the questions. It also endeavors to make entrance examinations publicly available after they are administered so that examinees and applicants in subsequent years can use them for study purposes.

    Reasonable measures for applicants with disabilities

    The university exercises care to ensure that applicants with disabilities can take examinations on an equal footing with applicants without disabilities. To this end, the university pays due heed to the intent of Japan’s Basic Act for Persons with Disabilities and Act for Eliminating Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities and takes any reasonable measures necessary according to the examples below to appropriately assess such applicants’ attributes including their abilities, aptitude, and learning outcomes. In addition, the university considers the accessibility of information including details of its measures relating to entrance examinations, and makes such information widely available. It also strives to optimize its provision for preliminary consultations, paying due attention to their timing and how they are conducted.

    • Use of braille or larger print for examination papers; preparation of enlarged answer sheets, etc.
    • Allowing use of separately designated examination locations; allowing examinees to use a car to enter the examination venue grounds; adjusting rules regarding designated seating, etc.
    • Extending the time allowed for examinations; providing instructions in written form; allowing the examinee to be accompanied to the examination room entrance, arranging for a personal assistant, etc.

(Educational Affairs Division)