Taiwan’s universities are to have an enrollment shortfall of 10,000 students next term, placement lists released by the College Entrance Examination Enrollment Distribution Committee have shown. Even medicine departments, the top choice of prospective students, still have 117 unfilled places.
The top four universities — National Taiwan University (NTU), National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) — have a combined enrollment shortfall of 869 students, the highest in four years.
Chung Pang-Yu (鍾邦友), an assistant professor at National Kaohsiung Normal University, yesterday suggested in a Taipei Times opinion article that the five-threshold admissions system be amended (“Entrance tests distort quota system” June 19, page 8).
However, there is more to the problem than what Chung stated.
Chung wrote that the questions in this year’s section A of the math exam were too difficult, resulting in far fewer students qualifying for the top universities. He suggested that universities adopt a more flexible approach to admissions and lower their qualification thresholds, which would improve applicants’ chances.
However, only two of the NTU departments that encountered enrollment shortfalls in the first round of admissions required top results in the math section. Offering 176 openings in total, they admitted 125 students.
Only one NYCU department required top results in math. That department offered 202 openings and filled 197 of them.
NCKU, which has a universal standard for math A, had no shortfall after the first round of admissions, but is 298 students short in the placement list.
Far fewer students met the math A standards compared with last year, but it is not the main reason for the shortfall. There is no need to change the system.
Enrollment at private universities has continued to decline because supply exceeds demand. Top universities and medicine departments are faced with the same systemic issue, but they could solve it by increasing their screening ratio or the number of students on waiting lists.
However, if universities increase the screening ratio, more students would be admitted in the second round, placing schools under greater pressure. Departments would have to increase their budgets, which would attract criticism that they are using the system to make money. Acceptance rates would drop, discouraging applicants.
The current system allows each prospective student to apply for six departments. With more students meeting departments’ thresholds, more of them would apply, increasing the likelihood of overlap. At NTU and NCKU, applicants can select up to five departments; at NTHU they can select six.
However, the “Taiwanese Ivy League” complex leads to many prospective students applying for departments at those schools, exacerbating the problem. Imagine a scenario in which most students get multiple offers to choose from.
To solve the problem, Taiwan should maintain the placement system, but increase the number of permitted applications to 50. After applicants fill out their lists of priorities, an algorithm would make the selection, picking a maximum of four departments.
Applicants could choose their ideal departments without having to worry about restrictions. This could prevent students with top marks entering low-ranking universities or failing to get into any university. It would also prevent overlapping interview appointments in the second round.
The education authorities should address the issue and lift the limit on the number of applications.
Wen Shun-te is a senior-high school principal.
Translated by Rita Wang
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