The Cabinet on Thursday last week approved plans to give private university students annual tuition subsidies of NT$35,000 (US$1,125) and waive high-school tuition for eligible students. The subsidies are expected to take effect in February next year.
The average annual tuition fee at public universities is about NT$62,000 per person, while that of private universities is about NT$110,000, a gap of about NT$50,000. Nevertheless, government statistics show that about two-thirds of university and college students are enrolled at private schools, and about 80 percent of them are from relatively economically disadvantaged families. The new subsidies would cover about 70 percent of the tuition gap. The Ministry of Education said they would benefit about 700,000 private university and high-school students, at a cost of NT$22 billion a year to the public purse.
The subsidies have been welcomed by most students and private universities, as they would not only help ease the financial burden on students, but could also boost private schools’ motivation to compete with public schools in recruiting students, which would hopefully improve their quality of education.
The presidential candidates of the opposition parties, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), have criticized the subsidies, saying they are a ploy by the Democratic Progressive Party to gain votes in the presidential and legislative elections next year. However, some KMT county commissioners, such as Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), have supported the subsidies. KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) has even proposed expanding them by waiving tuition fees for public university students, which would use more of the state budget, and has raised concerns that the tuition gap between public and private institutions would be widened, exacerbating education inequity and risking the value of university degrees.
Civil and youth groups have consistently complained about the high cost of private school tuition. The government has therefore restrained demands by private universities to increase tuition fees for about two decades. However, a Taiwan Higher Education Union report said that each private college student receives a state subsidy of NT$34,879 per year, much lower than the NT$99,972 each public college student receives. This has resulted in private universities being restricted by low budgets and students paying higher tuition, but receiving a poorer quality of education than public school students.
As surplus tax revenue reached NT$495 billion last year and NT$430 billion in 2021, government finances have improved. However, due to the low birthrate, the education ministry has forecast that the number of students enrolled at universities is estimated to drop below 900,000 next year. There would only be 719,000 students enrolled in 2038 — a 37 percent decrease from the 1.139 million students in 2012, it said in a report. That means the budget for education subsidies would also decrease as the years go by. The government should seize the opportunity to facilitate educational and social justice, something that should not change no matter who is elected president next year.
The subsidies aim to reduce student fees, not increase universities’ overall funding. Some universities have concerns about the sustainability of the subsidy budget. The government should draft a longer-term plan for the subsidy budget to ensure that the original funds earmarked for higher education and universities are not affected. The government should also consider limiting the subsidy schemes, such as by not making them available to wealthy families, to ensure the budget can be used to help more economically disadvantaged people cover expenses other than tuition.
The government and schools should challenge themselves to explore how the subsidy fund can be used to its greatest advantage to improve the quality of higher education.
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