2003
American Education Fall Fair
- Taiwan Post-Fair Report
Accentuating the theme of helping Taiwan's students to "build their future," the IEF Education Foundation's 2003 American Education Fall Fair in Taiwan saw high turnouts at each of its three venues in the cities of Taipei, Kaohsiung, and Taichung. Featured in this post-Fair report are information about new events at the fair, IEF's high school outreach program to help U.S. institutions recruit undergraduate students, feedback from fair participants, news about our student tracking system, an update on Taiwan's recruitment market, Fall Fair highlights, attendance statistics, seminar topics, and the schedule for IEF's 2004 Spring Fairs in Taiwan and Korea. We would like to express our gratitude for your participation this fall, and we welcome you to join us in our upcoming events in Spring 2004.
Subjects covered in this
report:
PBS Television Visits Fair
A television crew for the PBS program "Nightly Business Report" conducted interviews with students and U.S. school representatives during the American Education Fair in Taipei. According to Wendie Feinberg, the show's senior producer, plans are to air the episode focusing on Taiwan on Thanksgiving evening.
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IEF's High School Outreach Program Benefits Undergraduate Recruitment
Several local high schools sent groups of their students to visit the American Education Fair as well as to attend special sessions arranged for them by IEF to introduce the U.S. educational system. U.S. school representatives took advantage of the opportunities to talk to many of these students, who are seriously considering pursuing an undergraduate education in the United States.
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Counselors' Training At The Fair
IEF personnel conducted an orientation for a group of study abroad counselors from Taiwan's libraries who visited the American Education Fair in Taipei as participants in a special training program organized by Judy Chow of AIT. In Taiwan, study abroad counselors at public and school libraries are often the first source of guidance for students who are thinking about studying in other countries.
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Fair Participant Feedback
Overall, the majority of participants who completed our post-Fair survey responded positively, indicating their appreciation of the Fair's efficient organization, promotional activities, interpreter services, and quality of the student visitors. It was suggested that for future fairs we might offer school visits and radio interviews as optional activities for fair participants. We welcome your ideas as to whether or not the addition of these options would be beneficial.
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Student Tracking System Facilitates Recruiting Efforts
As a service to Taiwan's students, IEF offered online pre-Fair registration to the exhibition's visitors. Students who visited the American Education Fair were encouraged to register their educational goals and contact information in IEF's post-Fair tracking system. Participating U.S. schools will receive a list of the student contacts that visited their individual school's booth during the fairs. The list will be issued by IEF in mid November.
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Student Interpreter Service
An always-popular feature of IEF's Fairs is the student interpreter service that we provide at no additional cost to fair participants. Enrolled at local institutions, the student interpreters not only help to translate and disseminate information at the fair, but potentially could also serve as ambassadors to their own institutions on behalf of U.S. schools. At this year's fairs, IEF provided one interpreter and one high school assistant for each school's booth.
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Taiwan Market Update - Lower Visa Rate Expected in 2003
As of October 2003, approximately 9700 student visas had been issued by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to students from Taiwan. However, it should be noted that this figure is incomplete and does not reflect the total number of student visas issued by AIT this year. In contrast, the United States received 13,767 students from Taiwan in 2002, which represented a 7.5 percent decrease from 2001. The significant drop in student visas issued in 2003 is likely attributable to such factors as the SARS epidemic, the war in Iraq, safety concerns, and uncertain economic conditions. Nevertheless, the potential of the Taiwan student recruitment market remains robust despite this temporary setback, as Taiwan remains among the top five sources of international students who choose to study in the United States.
While the final figures are not yet in for 2003, the number of Taiwan students studying abroad increased to 33,791 in 2002. That year, an estimated 32,016 students went to the top eight receiving countries, representing a 5.3% increase from 2001. In order of popularity, the top eight receiving countries were the United States, the UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, France, and Germany. In the United States, 28,930 students from Taiwan were enrolled in over 872 universities in 2002. Of this amount, 54 percent were studying at the graduate level, 34 percent at the undergraduate level, and 12 percent as non-degree or ESL students.
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Keen Recruitment Competition From UK And Other Countries
In 2002, the UK experienced a nearly 25 percent increase in the number of students recruited from Taiwan compared to the previous year. Other countries, including Australia and Canada, also boasted considerable growth during that same time period, while the U.S. saw a 7.5 percent drop. It is expected that competition from the UK and other countries will continue to be keen in Taiwan's recruitment market in the foreseeable future. IEF is committed to working with American educational institutions to maintain the USA's position as the most popular study abroad destination for students from Taiwan.
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2003 Taiwan Fall Fair Statistics
The three-city 2003 American Education Fall Fair in Taiwan kicked off in Taipei at the Howard Plaza Hotel on Friday, October 17th. The two-day event in Taipei was held from 4:00-8:00 PM on Friday, and was also open from 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM on Saturday, October 18th. Down south in Kaohsiung, the exhibition took place at the Ambassador Hotel from 1:00-6:00 PM on Sunday, October 19th. The final stop of the three-city exhibition was Taichung, where the fair was held on Monday, October 20th, from 4:00 - 9:00 PM at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel. The US-Taiwan Business Council is an honorary sponsor of these events, which were open to the public free of charge. Attendance estimates for the three Fair venues were 5,300 visitors for Taipei, 1,800 for Kaohsiung, and 1,150 for Taichung, or a total of 8,250 visitors.
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AIT Briefings Provide Valuable Information at the Fairs
Deputy Commercial Section Chief William Marshak and Consular Officer Jamie Fouss of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) addressed the U.S. education delegation at the orientation organized by IEF in Taipei on October 17th. Mr. Marshak talked about Taiwan's educational and cultural milieu, as well as about his own experiences as a student in Taiwan in the past, while Mr. Fouss presented the latest data on student visas issued in Taiwan.
AIT consular officer Jamie Fouss offered presentations on student visas for students and parents at the Taipei fair, while AIT-Kaohsiung's William Johnson addressed this topic in Kaohsiung and Taichung.
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Fair Highlights
Free advising for students was available at the IEF Education Foundation's booth at each of the fair venues. Students were encouraged to register their contact information and academic preferences in IEF's student tracking system in order to receive individualized materials from U.S. educational institutions.
Many of the participating U.S. schools offered application fee waivers to students who visited their booths at the American Education Fair in Taiwan. For the benefit of students and parents, a series of free symposia on topics such as educational and visa issues, as well as individual school presentations, were held at all three venues of the Fair.
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IEF Scholarships
Each year, the IEF Education Foundation's Scholarship Committee awards a number of scholarships to qualified students from Taiwan to encourage students to study in the USA. The scholarship application deadline is April 1st, 2004, for students enrolling at an accredited U.S. community college, four-year college, university, or graduate program during the fall term of 2004. Application materials were available at each of the American Education Fair venues.
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2004 Spring Fair Dates
Registration is now open for IEF's 2004 American Education Spring Fair in Taiwan and Korea.
Taipei, Taiwan - March 6-7 at Taipei International Convention Center
Kaohsiung, Taiwan - March 8 at Grand Hi Lai Hotel
Taichung, Taiwan - March 9 at Evergreen Laurel Hotel
Seoul, Korea - March 13-14 at COEX Exhibition Center
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For additional
information about IEF fairs and services, please contact:
Emily Sung, Project
Manager
IEF Education Foundation
Telephone: 626-965-1995; Fax: 626-965-1675
E-mail: esung@ief-usa.org
Web: www.ief-usa.org
