ISOIS ▸ Partner universities

Ritsumeikan University

Mobility supported for students of the faculties: Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Informatics, Faculty of Sports Studies, Faculty of Social Studies, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Education, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Economics and Administration, Faculty of Pharmacy
Length of stay: semester or academic year
Language requirements: IJL Track: Japanese language proficiency is not required, but those who have not studied Japanese before should be able to communicate in English on a basic level. Applicants that wish to take courses in English must meet the same language requirements as RCE applicants.
RCE Track: Applicants must either meet the score waiver criteria or submit one of the following minimum English test scores: TOEFL iBT: 76 (New scoring system: 4.0), IELTS Academic: 6.0, Cambridge B2 First: 170, Cambridge C1 Advanced: 170, Duolingo English Test: 100.
RCJ Track: JLPT N1 or EJU Japanese (Reading Comprehension, Listening, and Listening-Reading Comprehension): 280 or above, and Japanese (Writing): 35 or above.
Supported academic levels: Bachelor, Master, Doctoral
Academic minimum required: Minimal required GPA: 2
GPA = Grade Point Average, a number from 0.0 to 4.0 (0.0 = fail, 4.0 = excellent)
ECTS usage: No. Since credit conversion depends on the policies of the receiving institution, we are unable to provide an exact equivalency. For reference purposes, we have entered “2,” as many of our courses are worth 2 Ritsumeikan credits.

For reference, Ritsumeikan University’s academic regulations define credit allocation as follows:
A standard curricular subject shall comprise course work requiring 45 hours of study per credit, and the following standards shall be used depending on the method by which the class is taught and taking account of the subject’s educational efficacy and the amount of study required outside class time.
(1) One credit shall be granted for 14 weeks of classes operated using the lecture or seminar methods with one to two class contact hours per week, as prescribed by the Faculty Council.
(2) One credit shall be given for 14 weeks of classes operated using the laboratory work, field work, or practicum methods with two to three class contact hours per week, as prescribed by the Faculty Council
(3) In the case of curricular subjects that are operated using a combination of two or more of the methods of lecture, seminar, laboratory work, field work, or practicum, one credit shall be given for a number of class hours prescribed by the Faculty Council depending on the combination of methods used and taking account of the standards prescribed in the preceding two clauses.
A minimum course load at MU consists of 20 ECTS credits per semester. This is equivalent to 40 credits at Ritsumeikan University. The final decision on the recognition of credits at MU in your Learning Agreement is up to the departmental coordinator at MU.
Further academic details: Undergraduate students can register only for courses listed in the SKP course list designated for undergraduate students. Graduate students may register for courses from both the undergraduate and graduate SKP course lists.
Recommended fields of study: N/A – Our exchange program is organized by study track, not by specific fields of study.
We recommend that students review the available study tracks and campus options to find the most suitable academic experience.
Please refer to the following resources for more information.
Track Comparison: en.ritsumei.ac.jp/skp/academics/track-comparison/
Course Lists from Previous Semesters: en.ritsumei.ac.jp/skp/academics/course-lists/
Forbidden fields of study: SKP students can select courses only from the course lists for each track and campus distributed at the beginning of the course registration period. Students cannot choose from the full list of courses offered to regular students. Research guidance is not provided to SKP students.
Financial conditions: Activity fee(s) for Campus-Specific-Course (en.ritsumei.ac.jp/skp/academics/csc/) if students wish to take one or more CSCs. For other living expenses, please see the Estimated Living Expenses page on our website (en.ritsumei.ac.jp/skp/academics/scholarships/).

Links: University website
International office
Course catalogue
Accommodation
Factsheet
Application process at partner university