Tohoku University ranked first for the fourth consecutive year in the Japan University Rankings released in March by Times Higher Education, a British specialist journal.

The Sendai-based university received high marks, among other factors, for having few weak points and for offering one of the most international environments among the country’s national universities.

“We have a firsthand sense that a growing number of students are aspiring to study at Tohoku University, lured by the substantial support it provides for international exchanges,” said Masahiro Yamaguchi, the Tohoku University vice president in charge of global engagement.

Behind Tohoku University, the University of Tokyo was ranked second and Osaka University was third.

Unlike other rankings based on “deviation values,” which indicate the difficulty of passing the entrance examination, the journal’s Japan University Rankings are focused on the quality of student learning and growth potential that are available following admission, officials said.

Times Higher Education analyzes and provides information on data related to educational issues. It has also been publishing the World University Rankings since 2004, which are focused on research and other capabilities.

The journal has been issuing the Japan University Rankings since 2017 under a business tie-up with Benesse Group, a major provider of education services in Japan.

HIGH SCORES ALL AROUND

Times Higher Education formulated the Japan University Rankings based on 16 performance indicators to calculate scores for four key areas including “resources,” based partly on finances available for each student and the ratio of faculty members to students; and “engagement,” which measures, among other things, the extent of engagement offered to students during class.

The other key areas are “outcomes,” which are based on reputation among corporate personnel officials and academics; and the international “environment” that is partly measured based on the number of international students and international staff, and how many courses are taught in a language other than Japanese.

Tohoku University continued to rank second or third between 2017 and 2019 before it rose to the top in 2020 and has stayed there ever since.

A Benesse official said Tohoku University has few weak points, as it earned scores of more than 80 in all four areas studied.

It ranked second only to Kyoto University in the outcomes area, up one place year on year; fifth in resources, up from sixth place last year; and 11th in the international environment, which still made Tohoku University the leader among Japan’s national universities.

“Whether a university has a global educational environment matters when it comes to producing students who can find careers overseas,” the official said.

TAKEN WITH A GRAIN OF SALT

Tohoku University had been selected in fiscal 2014 as one of the “top type” beneficiaries of the education ministry’s Top Global University Project along with other successful applicants such as the University of Tokyo and Kyoto University.

The number of international students at the university rose 1.7-fold from 2013 to 3,500 or so in 2019, and the number of courses taught in a language other than Japanese doubled to 1,216 by 2021, Yamaguchi said.

The university also built a new dormitory in Sendai’s Aobayama district in fiscal 2018 to allow about 700 Japanese and international students to live together.

During an entrance ceremony in April, Tohoku University President Hideo Ohno referred to the university remaining on top for four consecutive years in the Japan University Rankings.

“That is the fruit of the down-to-earth efforts we have made over so many years to improve our selection system for admission and the content of our education, even though the value of our university is by no means determined by such rankings,” Ohno said.

Universities can change places in similar rankings depending on the criteria.

For example, Tohoku University ranked below 200th--well behind the University of Tokyo at 39th and Kyoto University at 68th--in the 2023 World University Rankings.

University rankings “are simply one of the available sources of information, but they are not written in stone,” said Akiyoshi Yonezawa, a Tohoku University professor of pedagogy. “It is, therefore, essential to take an interest in how the rankings are composed whenever you attempt to assess their results.”

More information has also been disclosed in recent years on different university rankings, including the types of metrics they each attach importance to, Yonezawa added.