Fair uses money to lure best students

The three-day "university fair" kicked off yesterday at three venues nationwide, with more than 60 universities, seven military academies and numerous colleges from foreign countries participating, adopting a variety of measures to attract students.

The event, in its sixth year, is sponsored by the China Times and is being held in three locations including the New York, New York shopping plaza in Taipei, Sogo Department Store in Taichung and National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung.

At the Taipei event, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Minister of Education Ovid Tseng (曾志朗) were both invited to deliver speeches advising prospective college students on how to make the best choice of schools.

Chen told the students that they ought to make their decision based on their interests and aptitudes instead of going along with the social trends.

"The only right choice is to choose for yourself," said the president, citing his own experience as an example.

Minister Tseng, on the other hand, provided a list of criteria for students to assess the quality of academic institutions. "Advanced research environment and substantial instruction are fundamental elements for good universities," said Tseng. "Good professors should not only be eloquent lecturers, they also have to make themselves accessible by providing sufficient office hours to reinforce communication between instructors and students."

The fair's real eye-catchers were the huge signs put up by various universities specifying the amount of financial aid supplied if prospective freshmen chose to enter these schools. The tactic has been employed for a few years, and is a measure of the keen competition schools face in light of the number of universities in Taiwan greatly increasing.

For instance, Tunghai University in Taichung offered NT$1.2 million to those who picked the school as their first choice, provided they were ranked within the top five percent of examinees. Moreover, National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) outlined that students whose Joint University Entrance Exams (JUEE) grades were ranked within the top 1 percent of the examinees would be awarded NT$300,000. Other schools, including National Cheng Kung University, Yuan Ze University (元智大學), Tzu Chi University (慈濟大學) all offered enticing scholarships in an effort to lure quality students.

Their strategy was attacked by Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), professor of the sociology department at National Taiwan University, saying that it would run the risk of twisting student values. "College institutions should not attract students using money. Rather, they should emphasize the quality of their instruction," said Chiu.

Liang Ting-peng (梁定澎), dean of studies of the NSYSN, told the Taipei Times that financial aid offered by his school would lend a helping hand to good students who had financial difficulties. "We want to appeal to first-rate students to study in our school without having financial concerns. The initiative enables them to concentrate totally on their school work."

National Cheng Kung President Weng Hung-shan (翁鴻山) said that the scheme was used to draw good students because of its disadvantage in terms of location. "Schools situated in Taipei always have a much better chance at luring good students. Located in Tainan, though having a superb academic reputation, we are still placed in an inferior position when facing our counterparts in the north."