The number of foreign students at Taiwanese universities and colleges reached a record high last year, according to the latest figure released by the Ministry of Education (MOE) earlier this week.
The total number of students from abroad studying for degrees, learning Mandarin or engaged in exchange programs was 22,300 last year, the figures showed.
Most of the degree students in Taiwan last year were from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea and the US, in that order, said Liu Ching-jen (劉慶仁), Director-General of the MOE’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations.
Those studying Mandarin were mostly from the US, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam and Indonesia, while the majority of exchange students were from Japan, the US, South Korea, France and Germany, he said.
A breakdown of last year’s figures showed that Asian students accounted for 72.7 percent of the total; students from North, South and Central America 17 percent; European students 5.4 percent; African students 3.2 percent; and South Pacific Islanders 1.64 percent, he said.
“One of the goals we are focusing on is increasing the number of degree students studying in Taiwan,” Lu said, adding that the number of foreign degree students in Taiwan in October last year was 7,764, an increase of more than 30 percent from the previous year.
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