In the final evaluation (results announced on March 28) by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) for the Top Global University Project (SGU), Ritsumeikan University was awarded the highest grade of "S".

With its project entitled “Bridging the World and Asia: Human Development to Collaborate across Cultures and Contribute Globally to Asian Communities,” Ritsumeikan University has been pursuing high-level international collaboration since AY2014, including the implementation of a unique program—the only one of its kind in Japan—in partnership with American University (Washington, D.C., USA), one of the world’s top universities. Under this program, a joint curriculum was established and a single degree is awarded in the names of both universities. These initiatives, as well as a strong university organization to promote sustainable development and self-sustainability, were highly commended as a model for the internationalization of large private universities.

The SGU Project was launched in AY2014 to enhance the international competitiveness of Japan’s higher education by providing priority funding to top-class universities that offer world-class education and research by promoting internationalization through partnerships with excellent foreign universities and university reforms (Type A: Top Type) and universities spearheading internationalization (Type B: Global Traction Type). (Ritsumeikan applied for and was selected for Type B funding.)

Aiming to seek solutions to the common issues faced by the Asian community, the Ritsumeikan has been promoting various reforms from the three perspectives of international viability, openness, and mobility. In the SGU final evaluation, the university's individual projects were highly evaluated as were its systems and stance toward supporting those projects, which entailed unified governance related to internationalization and a framework for developing international programs through faculty-staff collaboration, including increasing the number and assignment of female and non-Japanese faculty and staff members. In particular, the development of expertise in designing highly internationalized curricula and programs at a level beyond that of conventional exchange programs, including the joint degree program with American University and the 100-student dual degree program with the Australian National University, and efforts to improve the international viability of the faculty and staff who administer these program were recognized as distinctive features of the university's global expansion initiatives.

Going forward, Ritsumeikan will continue our thorough university reform and internationalization efforts and contribute to driving the internationalization of Japanese society by conducting globally attractive top-tier education and research.

We are honored to have earned the highest possible rating for the various internationalization measures that we have undertaken throughout the university over the past 10 years since the SGU Project began in AY2014. During the SGU Project period, Ritsumeikan has striven to realize true campus internationalization, and we have pursued efforts to develop and operate co-learning programs for Japanese and international students as well as a diverse array of international programs. To realize the goal of becoming a next-generation research university that creates new value for coexisting with society as stated in the R2030 Challenge Design, our mid-term plan, we will promote a bold international strategy, which includes the development of global human resources who can contribute to international society and the pursuit of joint research with foreign partner universities, as we work to create an even more enriching educational and research environment.