On April 4th, the University of Tokyo held a press conference regarding the UTokyo School of Design, a new integrated bachelor’s and master’s program to be established in September 2027. The first faculty to be established in approximately 70 years will be led by Professor Miles Pennington (University of Tokyo Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies), who has been announced as its dean. The faculty will have an enrollment limit of 100 students per year, with foreign students and Japanese students each comprising around 50 students. While the entrance exam process is currently being decided, a comprehensive decision based upon documents and interviews is likely.
The UTokyo College of Design is an educational program that will be structured as four years for a bachelor’s degree and 2 year’s for a master’s degree. However, for students that achieve exceptional grades, completing both in five years is possible. A more detailed plan for the curriculum is outlined below (Figure 1), with international teachers to be brought in to teach the outlined content.
With “Design” as its guiding pillar, the faculty will provide programs that incorporate the extensive range of specialized knowledge from existing faculties. The term “Design”, while reflecting on the current state of societal systems such as banking, food distribution, and transportation, “means creating the society of the future.” (University of Tokyo President Fujii) A curriculum tailored to each year will be offered, culminating with a public exhibition in the final year.
In terms of cross-disciplinary learning, students will learn the fundamentals from each faculty in their first year. From the second year onwards, courses will be taken from five offered categories, including “Environment & Sustainability” and “Technology Frontiers & AI”. In addition, the fourth year includes up to one year of “Off-Campus Experience”, in which students are required to gain out-of-classroom experience by, for example, studying abroad or doing an internship at a startup company.
The program, based at the Asano Campus in the Hongo area, will utilize the former Information Infrastructure Center, which is scheduled for renovation. Students will be boarding in the University of Tokyo Mejirodai International Village for their first year.
The UTokyo College of Design will begin accepting applications in the fall of 2026. Although the admission system, or so-called entrance examination, is currently under consideration, there is currently no plan to include a written exam like the general selection method.
The plan is currently being submitted to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and may be subject to change. Factors such as tuition fees and degree titles are also still being considered. The University of Tokyo has launched a dedicated website for the College of Design, where relevant information will be posted.
