On 29 March 2010, a signing ceremony was held to mark the conclusion of a Student Exchange Agreement between Nanzan University and Hawaii University at Hilo, in the United States. Similar to Nanzan University, a feature of Hawaii University at Hilo is the closeness between students and staff, and among the public universities of the United States it is known as a liberal arts university. It is also famous for the diversity of origins of its students and it has an extremely multicultural campus. The exchange and dispatch of students both ways is scheduled to commence from the 2010 academic year.