With the so-called "liberalization" of tuition fees at colleges expected to become official policy in the future, college representatives yesterday called for the establishment of standards to prevent uncontrolled increases in fees.
With government funding to public colleges falling as the number of higher education institutions climbs, the Ministry of Education (
The ministry has also proposed plans to remove controls over tuition fees, while working to grant public colleges a higher level of autonomy in dispensing their financial resources.
However, Ju Jien-ming (
"The government is expecting national colleges to invite private donations to raise funds on their own, but this has been proven infeasible," Jue said. "Under the circumstances, the first thing that comes to the [college administrations'] mind is to raise the tuition fees to make up for the shortfall."
The ministry has said hikes cannot exceed 10 percent per annum.
Lee Si-chen (
"As there is no ceiling now, we need to consider public reaction and bargain over how much we need to raise every year," Lee said.
Yang Szu-wei (
"Is it necessary for higher education to become a universal education? I understand that many European countries still keep higher education as a kind of elite training," Yang said.
Huang Pi-twan (
Yang said popularization of higher education is a global trend, and European countries including Britain and Germany are working in that direction.
In response to the growing problem, Huang explained, the ministry has proposed corporatizing public colleges to let them enjoy a higher level of flexibility to dispense their resources and improve their fund-raising ability.
At present, even if a university has very good facilities and inventions with patent rights, legal restrictions prevent them from sharing the findings with private corporations.
"After public universities are corporatized, there will be such flexibility," Huang said.
She said Taiwan lacks a tradition in which wealthy people contribute money to fund education and charities.
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