A total of 248 students from China were accepted into postgraduate programs for the 2011-2012 academic year, the first time local universities have opened their doors to students from China, a joint recruitment committee announced yesterday.
Of these students, 220 registered for master’s programs and 28 for doctorates, said Chang Hung-teh (張鴻德), the committee’s director-general.
Another 88 applications — 75 for master’s programs and 13 for doctorates — were rejected, Chang added.
National Taiwan University (NTU), which accepted 56 of the students, is the institute that admitted the largest number of Chinese students, he said.
This year, 81 doctorate programs offered by 27 Taiwanese universities are providing 82 openings for Chinese students, while 465 master’s programs at 80 universities are offering 571 openings.
The fact that only 248 students were accepted means that 62 percent of the openings remain unfilled.
Tai Chein (戴謙), president of Southern Taiwan University, who chairs the joint recruitment committee, attributed the high number of vacancies to the strict screening criteria adopted by the various universities.
NTU’s economics master’s program, for example, received 21 valid applications from Chinese students, but only one was accepted, while another was put on a waiting list, Tai said.
Meanwhile, NTU vice president Chen Tai-jen (陳泰然) said various “unreasonable” restrictions barred many from filing an application. For example, only students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Fujian, Zhejiang and Guangdong could apply for positions, Chen said.
He expressed the belief that had it not been for these restrictions, NTU would have received more applications.
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