Characteristics of Kosen

Education System of Kosen

The Institute of National Colleges of Technology is a five-year higher educational organization¹ which admits secondary students and aims to train them to become practical engineers. Upon graduation, students will have obtained a semi-bachelor's degree. Kosen graduates can have various options for their future: seeking employment², going up to further education at the advanced engineering courses of Kosen, or transfering to other colleges and universities as third-year students.

In the advanced engineering courses, Kosen graduates or those with an equivalent educational foundation are expected to acquire higher knowledge and skills for another two years. Upon the completion of the courses they will obtain a bachelor's degree³ as in a four-year college or university.

1. A high school graduate can be admitted as a fourth-year student.
2. Nearly all of those who wish to seek employment successfully find a job.
3. To be accredited as a bachelor producing institution we are to be examined by NIAD-UE (National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Education).

Characteristics of Education at Kosen

• Five-year long integrated secondary and tertiary education.

Students start studying in their own specialty from the time of entrance, and this helps them learn specialized skills more deeply over a long period of time.

In Kosen students learn general education subjects, like in high school and college, as well as specialized studies. During the first three years out of the five they learn more liberal arts subjects than specialty subjects, and from the fourth year on, the subjects of their specialty will increase.

• Focus on experiments and practical training.

Students learn more effectively because they learn not only intellectually but through actual practices and experiments. It is reputed that Kosen graduates are chronologically the same age as two-year college graduates, but they have acquired knowledge and skills equivalent to the levels of a four-year college and university.

• Promotion of self-initiative and self-discipline.

Kosen students are treated like those in a university. There are fewer school regulations to follow than in a standard high school. Five years at Kosen is a period where students will develop an awareness of being a member of society.