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The 21st Century is that of knowledge-based economy and also one of intense competition. Higher education is the foundation of national development and competitiveness. With the rapid social, political, and economic change in Taiwan, the functions of higher education encounter serious challenges. The trend of globalization as well as pluralism prompt higher education make new breakthroughs and effective adjustments in order to become one of modernized nations in the 21st Century.

History

When the Government first moved to Taiwan in 1949, there was only one university (i.e. National Taiwan University) and three independent colleges with a total student body of a little over 5,000. Today, after a half century, there are already over 152 universities (including 58 public universities and 94 private universities) with a student-body of over 780,000. Higher education in Taiwan went through the period of “elite type” and “mass type” as followed, shifting to so- called the period of “universal type” now. There are three critical moments in the historical development of higher education in Taiwan:

1. In 1950’s: Since the founding of the first private college in 1953, private institutions now comprise over half the total number. The power of private institutions spurred the development of higher education as a whole.

2. In 1970’s: The founding of the first vocational college of Technology in 1974 launched the policy of a dual-track system of academic and vocational types.

3. In 1990’s: The New University Law was established in 1994. Under the Law, the principles of university autonomy and academic freedom in higher education were set up and affirmed.

Nowadays, under the impetus of pursuing academic excellence, universities are developing various and unique characteristics in order to overcome potential difficulties and challenges in the new century.

Current Situation and Reforms in Higher Education

Universities in Taiwan have essentially been operated at the discretion of the Ministry of Education (MOE) over the past several decades. However, following economic expansion and the development of democracy, the MOE has gradually moved towards a more flexible policy concerning the higher education system.

The current higher education system consists of research universities, comprehensive universities and technological universities; while the functions of the first two include teaching, research, service and extension, with an emphasis on research and teaching, the functions of the last emphasize technological education and research. Each of these three categories has its own characteristics and specific functions in educational goals, course design and student guidance.

Thus, there are some major changes in the higher education system in Taiwan in the recent years as follows:

1. Expansion Number of Institutions of Higher Education

The number of institutions and students of higher education over past decade has been growing with government policies. The massive increase in Taiwan higher education began in the mid-1980. During the ten years from 1976 to 1986, there were only 3 new institutions and the number of students totaled 19,800. By 2000 there were 127 institutions growing by 350% with a student body of 64,7000 increased by 2.27 times. Higher education system in Taiwan has flourished indeed.

2. Budget System

National universities formerly relied on the government for their total budget. In order to create more financial independence among national universities, the government launched the “University Fund” in 1995. The plan called for universities to lessen their reliance on the government, and to implement measures to fund part of their programs independently. Beginning in the 1999 academic year, each university implemented its own fund-raising plan. Funding for private universities had traditionally relied on tuition. In order to ease the burden on students and seek a balance between public and private schools, the MOE has substantially increased assistance to private schools in recent years.

3. Classification of Institutions

Universities in Taiwan are classified as research-oriented type, teaching-oriented, and social service-oriented types according to their characteristics and missions. Based on the needs of the nation, the development of each university is supposed to be designed and supervised by the MOE. However, many institutions tended in recent years to strive all for recognition as research-oriented universities regardless of their missions and insufficient resources.

4. Institutional autonomy and academic freedom

Prior to the revision in 1994 of the New University Law, the rules and regulations of universities and colleges in Taiwan were basically determined by the MOE. The institutions, including public and private universities, didn’t have institutional autonomy. With the legalization of the Law, the MOE’s control over institutions lessens gradually and universities have powers over their academic and institutional administration, such as faculty hiring and promotion, agencies and research centers establishment, and so on. In addition, faculty is encouraged to participant in policy making of departments, colleges and central administrations. Academic profession is positively protected by the University Law as well as the regulations of each institution.

5. Quality of teaching and research

Universal access for students brings more educational opportunities as well as apprehension over the declining higher education quality. Now the MOE is well devoted to promote the academic and teaching qualities of higher education such as initiating “ the Practical Measures for Maintaining and Raising Standards in Higher Education”, the Program for Promoting University Academic Excellence Project.

6. Life long education

Life-long learning is the new trend for the world’s developed nations. Facing the demand of economic growth, higher education in Taiwan has hastened to expand the access to non-traditional students aged over 25. In 1990, two open universities were launched in the northern and southern parts of Taiwan to meet the need of those already in the work force. Now a variety of extension programs have been provided by institutions of higher education in Taiwan in order to benefit people in the local communities off campus.

Conclusions

A Chinese proverb says,“It takes ten years for a tree to grow up and one hundred years for a person.” Education is the fundamental work of constructing a country, and higher educational is a major key to national competitiveness. In the last decade, the development of higher education in Taiwan has yielded incredible results quantitatively as well as qualitatively, which leads it to the shift of traditional elitism to universal education for the masses. However, the development and reforms of higher education should continue to be going on progressively to reach the designated goals. In the future, as what students, faculty and administrators expect, higher education in Taiwan will be more colorful, livelier, more excellent, and the students will have a higher quality learning environment. Those who are cultivated under the higher education system will become complete citizens with both humanistic and scientific knowledge.

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