Six colleges reported an enrollment rate of less than 60 percent this year, following years of low birthrates, data released yesterday by the Ministry of Education showed.
The release of this year’s freshman enrollment rates at colleges and universities comes as education experts expressed concern over higher education enrollment.
The publicly funded National Taitung Junior College had the lowest enrollment rate at 31.75 percent, followed by five private colleges: Yuh-Ing Junior College of Health Care and Management (50.41 percent), Nanya Institute of Technology (50.51 percent), Min-Hwei College of Health Care Management (53.47 percent), Taiwan Steel University of Science and Technology (58.88 percent) and Aletheia University (59.41 percent), the data showed.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
Most enrollment rates were above 80 percent, while 10 universities or colleges had a 100 percent enrollment rate: National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), National Central University (NCU), National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, CTBC Business School, Ming Chi University of Technology, I-Kuan Tao Chong-De School, Weixin Shengjiao College, and Bliss and Wisdom Buddhist College.
Most publicly funded institutions reported strong enrollment rates, with the rates of leading universities exceeding 96 percent, such as National Taiwan University (NTU, 99.32 percent), National Chengchi University (NCCU, 97.45 percent), National Taiwan Normal University (96.25 percent), National Chung Hsing University (99.01 percent) and National Sun Yat-sen University (96.61 percent).
Low freshman enrollment affects not only schools’ finances and academics, but also the resources the ministry allocates to it, such as grants and subsidies, a source in the education sector said.
Freshman enrollment rates are also an important indicator in determining if the ministry should open discussions on possible school closure, they said.
Colleges with longstanding low enrollment rates might be listed as “schools under project guidance,” meaning they might have to close if not enough improvement has been made by a deadline.
Shrinking enrollments might also affect local industries, they added.
The ministry said it has been helping schools with low enrollment rates adjust their scale and offerings based on the Higher Education Sprout Project, the Act Governing the Closure of Private Educational Institutions at Senior Secondary or Higher Level (私立高級中等以上學校退場條例) and a project guidance mechanism.
The ministry would continue to monitor enrollment rates and education quality to ensure students’ rights and welfare are protected, it said.
Enrollment rates for starting master’s degrees or doctoral programs were also declining, with 54 colleges or universities reporting zero enrollment this year.
NCU reported eight doctoral programs with no new enrollment: the Institute of Industrial Economics, the Graduate Institute of Applied Geology, the Graduate Institute of Astronomy, and doctoral programs in chemical and materials engineering, energy engineering, electrical engineering, communications engineering and mechanical engineering, the data showed.
Other leading universities — NTU, NTHU, NCKU, NYCU and NCCU — had a total of 17 master’s or doctoral programs with zero new enrollment.
The programs included NTU’s physical therapy doctoral program; NCCU’s master’s programs in Slavic languages and literature, and sociology; NTHU’s doctoral program in quantum technology and advanced materials; NCKU’s doctoral programs in international business and statistics; and NYCU’s International Program in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine and doctoral program in translational medicine.
Many doctoral programs had an enrollment quota of only one or two students.
The schools might have received no applications or did not receive applications from suitable candidates, the source said.
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