Officials at the Ministry of Education yesterday unveiled a draft for its first white paper on university education, spelling out what the ministry calls "tuition liberalization" -- working toward removing controls over college tuition fees so as to let the market mechanism decide what prices students should pay for their education.
The draft paper also calls for the internationalization of the education system, as well as the promotion of Taiwan-focused studies.
The ministry had set uniform standards for tuition fees charged by both public and private colleges until 1999, after which a plan was implemented to allow "flexible" tuition fees in colleges.
Though tuition fees are no longer standardized under the plan, colleges are still subject to some restrictions.
For private universities, the ministry will decide whether to approve their proposal depending on their management performance and on the ratio of the money received from tuition fees to the expenditures on administrative management, teaching, research, counseling and scholarships for students.
For public universities -- which receive around 80 percent of their funding from the ministry now, funds derived from tuition fees cannot go beyond the shortfall that they are supposed to raise on their own. Also, the annual hike in tuition fees should not exceed 10 percent.
While the flexibility that colleges enjoy will be expanded over time, the tuition fees will be fully liberalized after higher education opportunities grow to an extent that allow "colleges to choose students" and "students to choose colleges" autonomously, the draft says.
"By this time, the tuition fees charged by colleges will be responsible for education quality, and the development and survival of colleges will depend on market mechanisms," said Chen Der-hwa (
In 1999, the number of registered colleges in Taiwan are 115, consisting of 56 public and 59 private. Currently, another two public colleges and 30 private colleges are being set up.
The net college enrollment rate for students between 18 and 21 years-of-age is expected to grow from 33.3 percent in 1998 to 37.81 percent in 2002, the draft predicts. the percentage of people who have received higher education will also grow from 36.5 to 38.5 for every 1,000 people.
As the ministry begins to lift the control of tuition fees, it will also make sure that education opportunities for underprivileged students doesn't go by the wayside because of higher tuition fees, Chen said.
According to the draft, the ministry will seek to increase the availability of scholarships by setting up new scolarships systmes in colleges, encouraging donations from the private sector and assisting colleges in the creation of their own financial sources.
Other essential areas addressed by the paper include quality control of higher education, operation mechanisms of college autonomy, distribution of education resources, integration of resources, establishment of unique characteristics in each college, corporate interaction and excellency in higher education.
The white paper is set to be finalized in March.
The ministry has scheduled rounds of public discussions among university presidents throughout this week to serve as the basis of improvement to the draft.
Officials added that attention will also be given to: interaction between universities and local communities, attempts at internationalization and measures to focus more on Taiwan culture.
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