by Joseph Lee The Taiwan Minister of Education, Wu Se-hwa, has announced that after five years sixty universities in Taiwan will disappear. In 2014, twenty-one schools with enrollments of fewer than 3,000 students had already closed. This is due to declining birthrates on the island and is causing a massive impact, especially on universities that are far away from cities or are otherwise difficult to reach. This huge impact will continue into 2016, and according to the Ministry of Education, the number of university freshmen will decrease until 2018, when the number will drop to only 157,000. According to a recent university survey, “enrollment pressure” has become the biggest challenge for university presidents who must cope with the low birth rates.
Universities are trying hard to attract students in new ways, strengthening their special features and resources to create new programs. One example is Taiwan Hospitality and Tourism University, which is hoping to market itself as the home of green tourism in Taiwan. Taiwan Ocean University stresses professions that deal with marine science to promote its school brand. Some universities are also opening resource sharing platforms to increase their enrollments, for example by creating strategic alliances with neighboring high schools and offering professional training. Other universities are promoting new projects to increase the number of freshmen, such as curriculum reforms that require students to participate in domestic and international competitions, thereby enhancing the schools’ visibility. For instance, Takming University of Science and Technology requires seniors to promote “off-campus practice courses” that stress employment opportunities after graduation. Universities are trying to enroll more international students to make up for their lack of Taiwanese freshmen. Ming Chuan University, which has been certified by the American Education Evaluation Association, has the largest number of foreign students. I-Shou University International College was founded in 2009 using a UK teaching environment, and it has the largest number of foreign students in southern Taiwan. Former president Ma Ying-jeou has suggested that universities should merge. But many university presidents argue that the government must approach the deeper problem of a declining birthrate. Many universities are suggesting that the government increase the percentage of foreign students, since international student enrollment is limited to 10% per school in Taiwan. a
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May 2024
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