Keio University - Overview

Overview

Keio traces its history to 1858 when Fukuzawa Yukichi, who had studied the Western educational system at Brown University in the United States, started to teach Dutch while he was a guest of the Okudaira family. In 1868 he changed the name of the school to Keio Gijuku and devoted all his time to education. While Keiō's initial identity was that of a private school of Western studies, it expanded and established its first university faculty in 1890, and became known as a leading institute in Japanese higher education. It was the first Japanese university to reach its 150th anniversary, celebrating this anniversary in 2008.

In 2009, Keio University was selected as one of "Global 30" universities, a government program "which is aimed at elevating... international competitiveness among the world's top universities and at creating an attractive environment for overseas students, while fostering students and researchers capable of playing active international roles."

Keio has leading research centers. It has approximately 30 Research Centers located on its five main campuses and at other facilities for advanced research in Japan Keio's School of Medicine has long-standing research links with the Harvard Medical School. Keio University has joined the MIT and the French INRIA in hosting the international W3C.