Akita International University

Akita International University (国際教養大学, Kokusai Kyōyō Daigaku), or AIU, is a public university located in Akita City, Akita Prefecture, Japan. Established in 2004 and modeled on American liberal arts colleges, AIU is one of the few universities in Japan offering all of its courses in English. It has currently 185 partner institutions from all over the world.

Its undergraduate program offers bachelor's degrees in Global Business and Global Studies, and its graduate program offers master's degrees in Japanese Language Teaching, English Language Teaching, and Global Communication Practices. The undergraduate program at Akita International University is unique in Japan. All courses are taught in English, with the exception of foreign language classes. Undergraduate students are expected to study overseas for one year of their academic program. Non-native English speaking students are prepared for using English in the classroom through the intensive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) Program. As of 2021, the president of AIU  is Norihiko Suzuki.

Akita International University's approach to international liberal arts gives students the opportunity to develop an international mindset and the flexibility and adaptability to succeed in the global economy. In addition to a curriculum focused on developing international expertise, AIU offers all undergraduate content courses entirely in English and to require all students to study abroad for a full year. AIU also offers an unparalleled opportunity to develop close relationships across cultural barriers and establish an international network. Approximately 20% of the student body comprises international students from over 200 exchange partner universities in 50 countries and regions. Local and international students participate in all the same small classes, clubs, and activities, and over 80% of students live on campus, allowing for daily, personal interaction. The mission of AIU is to produce world-class leaders. Stated simply, a global leader is an intelligent person with an outstanding character capable of taking passionate action on a worldwide scale. Such individuals must possess, in addition to qualities related to learning (intelligence quotient (IQ) qualities), sufficient qualities of character formation (emotional quotient (EQ) qualities). To take AIU's International Liberal Arts education a step further, AIU has established the educational method called Applied International Liberal Arts (AILA). With AILA, AIU will introduce a new curriculum starting from AY2021. In addition to two curriculums of Global Business (GB) and Global Studies (GS), AIU will offer the field of sustainability to the GS Program and establish a new program called the Global Connectivity (GC) from the academic year of 2021.  The Professional Graduate School of Akita International University, named the "Graduate School of Global Communication and Language," is truly unique and an appropriate professional graduate school for this globalized society. AIU graduate school consists of three programs: English Language Teaching Practices, Japanese Language Teaching Practices, and Global Communication Practices. These three programs are intended to provide specialized courses to support the acquisition of knowledge and practice, in order to train highly specialized professionals who can play an active role in the international community. In the AIU graduate school, all courses are taught in English, except for some subjects in the Japanese Language Teaching Practices program. Furthermore, in order to accept excellent students from all over the world, as graduate schools in western societies do, the screening of applicants is strictly conducted based on documents submitted. Through such new and unconventional features, AIU aims to establish a graduate school of global standards.