In 2023, "Nihon University" ranked first for the 13th consecutive year in the list of "Universities Where the Most Presidents of Japanese Companies Graduated," with 20,248 presidents, showing a significant lead over the second place. On the other hand, when narrowing down to listed companies, Keio University, ranking second, takes the lead. Looking at the performance of top 100 schools, companies led by graduates of Hitotsubashi University dominate in both sales and profits.
The "National President's Alma Mater" survey compiles data from approximately 4 million companies (including sole proprietorships) represented in the Tokyo Shoko Research company's database to extract public university data. If the same person serves as president of multiple companies, only the one with the highest sales is counted. If there are name changes or mergers of graduating universities, the name of the surviving university is considered.
In the 13th edition of the "National President's Alma Mater" rankings in 2023, "Nihon University" secured the top spot with 20,248 presidents, followed by "Keio University" with 10,617 presidents, "Waseda University" with 10,420 presidents, and "Meiji University" with 8,195 presidents. "Chuo University" ranked fifth with 7,400 presidents, followed by "Hosei University" with 6,011 presidents, "Tokai University" with 5,861 presidents, "Kinki University" with 5,767 presidents, "Doshisha University" with 4,945 presidents, and "The University of Tokyo" with 4,319 presidents.
"Nihon University" has maintained the top position for 13 consecutive years, with a significant lead over the second and subsequent positions. Among national and public universities, "The University of Tokyo" has ranked tenth for five consecutive years. "Kyoto University" rose from 20th place last year to 19th place, and other notable institutions include "Osaka University" at 22nd place, "Hokkaido University" at 23rd place, "Kyushu University" at 27th place, "Tohoku University" at 29th place, and Kobe University at 30th place, with seven schools including former imperial universities making it to the top 30.
In the rankings of listed companies (including local listings), "Keio University" took first place with 289 presidents, followed by "Waseda University" with 230 presidents, and "The University of Tokyo" with 213 presidents. "Nihon University" ranked fourth with 105 presidents, and "Kyoto University" ranked fifth with 102 presidents. The top three universities have over 200 students serving as presidents, with three national universities in the top ten, including Hitotsubashi University ranking ninth.
Looking at the performance of the top 100 schools (excluding medical and dental schools), companies led by Hitotsubashi University graduates performed well in both sales and profits. They dominate in all three categories: companies with increased sales, companies with increased profits, and companies with both increased sales and profits. Additionally, "Gifu University" also performed well, ranking third among companies with increased revenue, second among companies with increased profits, and second among companies with increased sales and profits. Among the top 20 national and public universities, there are 20 companies with increased revenue, 16 companies with increased profits, and 16 companies with increased sales and profits.
By prefecture, Nihon University ranks first in 16 prefectures. However, compared to the previous year, Kagawa Prefecture and Kochi Prefecture, which ranked first in student numbers, lost to local national universities. In the western region of Japan, only Miyazaki Prefecture ranked first. Local national universities lead in 15 prefectures in the western region. In the Kinki region, where private universities are concentrated, private universities rank first in all four prefectures, indicating that the distribution of universities also influences the alma maters of company presidents.
◆2023 "University Presidents" Rankings
1st Place: Nihon University - 20,248 presidents
2nd Place: Keio University - 10,617 presidents
3rd Place: Waseda University - 10,420 presidents
4th Place: Meiji University - 8,195 presidents
5th Place: Chuo University - 7,400 presidents
6th Place: Hosei University - 6,011 presidents
7th Place: Tokai University - 5,861 presidents
8th Place: Kinki University - 5,767 presidents
9th Place: Doshisha University - 4,945 presidents
10th Place: The University of Tokyo - 4,319 presidents
