A total of 112 Taiwanese university and college programs reported that they enrolled no new students this academic year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday amid concern over the nation’s aging population.
The ministry published the latest college enrollment statistics on its public information platform of higher learning institutions at https://udb.moe.edu.tw/udata.
National Taiwan University’s theater, geography, oceanography, plant pathology and microbiology graduate programs were among the 35 doctoral and master’s degree programs that did not enroll any students this year, the data showed.
Photo: Yang Mien-chieh, Taipei Times
National Tsinghua University’s quantum technology and advanced materials, electronic and photonic engineering programs, and National Central University’s economics, human resource management, applied geology and material sciences programs were also bereft of new students, it said.
Seventeen master’s programs did not enroll students, including eight regular programs and five night-school programs, the ministry said.
The remaining programs without new students were predominantly bachelor’s programs or their equivalent offered at private universities or college-level vocational institutions, it said.
A National Taiwan University spokesperson said that its theater and microbiology graduate programs had seven and three applicants respectively whose test scores did not meet standards.
No doctoral-seeking applicants expressed interest in geology, oceanography, plant pathology or microbiology, the spokesperson said.
A National Central University spokesperson said the doctoral programs with zero enrollments were seeking one to three students and most of them received one application each.
These applicants were either rejected for failing to meet test score standards or ended up attending the master’s degree version of the program due to the latter’s perceived advantage in job opportunities, they said.
The university is to discuss the design of its doctoral programs to boost competitiveness, the spokesperson said.
According to ministry data, 19 institutions of higher learning reported having enrolled less than 60 percent of their capacity for new students, with all but one being private institutions, ministry data showed.
Kao Yuan University, which is based in Kaohsiung and filled 15.7 percent of available spots, had the lowest enrollment rate in the nation, while National Taitung Junior College was the sole public institution with an enrollment rate of less than 60 percent.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
FINANCES: The KMT plan to halt pension cuts could bankrupt the pension fund years earlier, undermining intergenerational fairness, a Ministry of Civil Service report said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ proposal to amend the law to halt pension cuts for civil servants, teachers and military personnel could accelerate the depletion of the Public Service Pension Fund by four to five years, a Ministry of Civil Service report said. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) on Aug. 14 said that the Act Governing Civil Servants’ Retirement, Discharge and Pensions (公務人員退休資遣撫卹法) should be amended, adding that changes could begin as soon as after Saturday’s recall and referendum. In a written report to the Legislative Yuan, the ministry said that the fund already faces a severe imbalance between revenue