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.
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
GEOPOLITICAL CONCERNS: Foreign companies such as Nissan, Volkswagen and Konica Minolta have pulled back their operations in China this year Foreign companies pulled more money from China last quarter, a sign that some investors are still pessimistic even as Beijing rolls out stimulus measures aimed at stabilizing growth. China’s direct investment liabilities in its balance of payments dropped US$8.1 billion in the third quarter, data released by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed on Friday. The gauge, which measures foreign direct investment (FDI) in China, was down almost US$13 billion for the first nine months of the year. Foreign investment into China has slumped in the past three years after hitting a record in 2021, a casualty of geopolitical tensions,
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
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