The Ministry of Education (MOE) has formulated three plans to increase university tuition fees and it hopes to reach a final decision by next month on which plan to implement, it announced yesterday.
According to the first plan, 30 public universities would be allowed to raise their tuition fees by 0.95 percent, or NT$285 for a six-month period, while 23 private schools would increase their fees by 0.88 percent, or NT$484, over the same period.
In addition, four schools would be allowed to lower their tuition by NT$231 and eight schools would maintain their current fees.
The second plan was developed with the intention of reducing the tuition gap between private and public universities, as well as cutting personnel costs.
Under the second plan, 20 national universities would increase their tuition by 3.17 percent, or NT$951, 12 private schools would raise tuition by 0.23 percent, or NT$127, six private schools would lower their tuition and 17 universities would not make any changes.
The third plan was created based on the costs incurred by universities and it takes into account increases in personnel expenses.
Under the third plan, public universities would increase tuition costs by 8.55 percent, or NT$2,565, while 12 private schools would increase tuition by 3.99 percent, or NT$2,194.
However, the third plan has received little support from the universities themselves.
Tuition fees need to be raised at least NT$3,000 for a six-month period to reflect increased costs because tuition fees have remained stagnant since 2005, National Taiwan University’s dean of academic affairs Chiang Been-huang (蔣丙煌) said.
However, some students and parents believe a tuition hike would add to their financial burden.
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