A number of private colleges yesterday announced incentives, including scholarships of up to NT$2 million (US$63,279), at a university expo in Taipei in a bid to attract more students amid the nation’s declining birthrate.
Fo Guang University president Ho Jaw-fei (何卓飛) said at the expo that he approved of the Executive Yuan’s policy, which started last month, of offering an annual subsidy of more than NT$35,000 each to more than 600,000 private school students — although eligibility criteria would apply.
It gives students an equal chance at education, he said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Fo Guang University would be waiving tuition and miscellaneous fees for first-year students and offering an additional NT$35,000 that would assist students from second year to graduation, Ho said.
Chinese Culture University president Wang Tzu-chi (王子奇) said his university would waive tuition and fees for the first year if students achieved passing grades in four subjects on the advanced subjects test, and would continue to waive tuition and fees should students maintain a certain standard in their first year and be in the top 20 percent of their class.
This offer would be open to students for up to four years, adding that the university has set aside NT$300 million to cover the expenses, Wang said, adding that his university has signed contracts with hundreds of firms to ensure that students would have job opportunities upon graduation.
National Chi Nan University president Wuu Dong-sing (武東星) said the school is willing to offer NT$2 million in scholarships if students’ grades are among the top 5 percent, if they have listed Chi Nan University as their top preference, and if they have applied through the Star Plan (繁星計畫).
The Star Plan is a program in which high schools recommend to universities select students that meet criteria set by the universities, to give students from outlying islands an equal chance at education.
Chi Nan University is also willing to offer an additional NT$500,000 in scholarships for students who have obtained perfect scores in four subjects in the advanced subjects test, Wuu added.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
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