Taiwan remained the seventh-largest source of international students in the US for the third consecutive year last year, while more US students came to Taiwan, an annual report by the US-based Institute of Educational Exchange said.
According to the institute’s 2017 Annual Open Doors Report published on Monday, about 21,500 Taiwanese enrolled at US institutions during the 2016-2017 academic year, an annual increase of 1.8 percent.
A majority of the Taiwanese (41 percent) were pursuing graduate studies, followed by those enrolled in undergraduate programs (30 percent) and students in practical training programs (19.6 percent).
The top five places of origin for international students in the US are China, India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.
Rounding out the top 10 are Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, Mexico and Brazil.
Meanwhile, the number of US students studying at colleges or universities in Taiwan climbed by 11 percent last year, the report said.
American Institute in Taiwan spokeswoman Sonia Urbom said the institute has launched several programs to promote US higher education to Taiwanese students.
“It is primarily through EducationUSA, a free advisory service that provides accurate and comprehensive information on studying in the US to students,” Urbom said, adding that different branches of American Spaces across Taiwan, as well as the American Innovation Center in Taipei, frequently host information sessions on US education and culture.
She said the institute has also used social media to highlight news about student exchange opportunities organized by the US Department of State.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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