Several colleges are adjusting their business models to admit older students as part of an effort to stay financially viable in the face of declining enrollments.
At a forum held on Wednesday by the Ministry of Education to discuss transitions in higher education, one idea put forward was to convert some educational facilities into healthcare centers and dormitories for older students.
Chung Hwa University of Medical Technology in Tainan said it is planning to open special classes for senior citizens and work with medical establishments in the area to set up health and postpartum care centers.
Hsuan Chuang University in Hsinchu said it intends to establish a college specifically for senior citizens and will remodel some of its vacant dormitories for such students, as declining enrollments in recent years have left those facilities largely vacant.
The participants at the forum cited the example of CTBC Financial Management College, a private institution that was reorganized and renamed earlier this year after it went bankrupt.
With donations from CTBC Financial Holding, the college established three departments and a general education center, and admitted 150 students in its first semester, the participants said.
Universities and colleges, particularly private ones in remote areas, have been struggling with falling enrollments.
The ministry last year launched a higher education transition program, encouraging universities and colleges to find alternative uses for idle facilities and forcing schools with extremely low enrollments to close.
An assessment report by the ministry shows that a number of the 117 universities and colleges nationwide would see a drastic drop in enrollment, starting next year. Enrollments are forecast to drop 7 percent from 271,000 in 2013 to 252,000 next year, the report said.
It forecast a continued slide in the following years to 156,000 by 2028, about half the 2013 number.
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