The University of Tokyo announced Friday it will introduce a quarterly academic year from April 2015, replacing the current two semesters, to align itself with the international standard.

The decision by its board was based on proposals made in a June panel report that fell short of recommending the start of fall enrollment, as sought by the university's president, Junichi Hamada.

Hamada welcomed the move Friday, saying it's groundbreaking in the institution's long history that such extensive, universitywide discussions have taken place on undergraduate education reform. He added the university will still pursue his fall enrollment idea.

Each faculty is in the process of choosing from two quarterly plans outlined in the report.

One four-term option would consist of April to May, September to October, November to December, and January to February. The other is April to May, June to July, October to November, and December to January.