IEF Education Foundation | Education Fair Taiwan Article

The IEF Education Foundation is pleased to provide this post-Fair report on the 2003 American Education Spring Fairs in Taiwan. We welcome your feedback, and hope to see you at our upcoming events in Taiwan in Fall 2003.

Running from March 14th -18th, the IEF Education Foundation's 2003 American Education Spring Fair in Taiwan included venues in Taipei, Kaohsiung and Taichung. The two-day Taipei fair was held at the Sheraton Hotel on Friday, March 14th and Saturday, March 15th. In Kaohsiung, the exhibition took place at the Ambassador Hotel on Sunday, March 16th. The exhibition concluded at the Evergreen Laurel Hotel in Taichung on the evening of Tuesday, March 18th.

For the convenience of participating schools and fairgoers, IEF once again implemented a student tracking system at the exhibitions in Taiwan. Each student who voluntarily registered received a five-digit code that was recorded at each booth he or she visited. Based upon the student visiting record at each booth, submitted by each school, the student data will be sent to the individual participating schools via e-mail around April 20, 2003. For all three venues, the total attendance was 7,684 visitors. The student tracking system collected a total of 3,421 student records at the three venues.

High School	2 & 5 Year Colleges	Undergraduates	Graduates	Other
10.08%	18.38%	42.03%	17.55%	11.96%

School Type	Boarding	Language	Undergraduate	Graduate
Student Interest	8.2%	10.3%	16.9%	64.6%

Year	2003	2004	2005	2006 and Beyond	Total
No. of Students	920	1233	640	728	3,421

The top ten most popular major fields of study are: Business, Language, Education, Art and Design, Engineering, Computer Science, Biological Science, Communications, Social Science, and Health.

At the pre-fair orientation for the U.S. education delegation, IEF presented an analysis of Taiwan's recent educational developments and current recruitment environment. Mr. William Marshak, deputy chief of the Commercial Section at AIT-Taipei, provided a briefing to the group; in Kaohsiung, Mr. David Seckler, chief of the Consular Section at AIT-Kaohsiung addressed the delegation. Concurrent with the Fair, IEF conducted a series of seminars on educational issues to general audiences, as well as special sessions particularly arranged for local high schools. Several of the U.S. college representatives provided individual school presentations on behalf of their institutions. At the request of IEF, Mr. Jamie Fouss, consular officer with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), offered student visa briefings at the Taipei venue.

An item popular with students that was distributed free of charge at all three Fair venues was the full color catalog, "American Education Fair & Language-Culture Summer Programs in the USA." This attractive guide features facts on a wide variety of U.S. summer programs open to international students, as well as scholarship information. Students were also able to register online for a free catalog.

In view of the preference of many tech-savvy students in Taiwan to obtain information about U.S. schools via the Internet, IEF launched its video digitizing project in March 2003 at no cost to U.S. schools. Digitized videos converted from videotapes provided by U.S. educational institutions have been activated and can be accessed at www.uscampus.com as well as at the Chinese-language site www.uscampus.com.tw. Schools that have not yet submitted tapes (half-inch Beta tapes preferred) or CD-ROMs are encouraged to send them to IEF's office in California with permission for IEF to use the materials in part or in full.

Many of the U.S. school representatives became instant celebrities when they participated in video interviews at the Taipei venue. Those who participated had the opportunity to describe their institutions and to answer questions about practical issues related to studying in the United States. Still in the process of being edited, the videos will eventually be viewable online.

English Language Promoted

The MOE recently announced plans to gradually hire 1000 native speakers of English to teach in Taiwan's public schools. The first 400 teachers, to be assigned to primary and junior high schools, will arrive this summer. They were recruited from English-speaking countries, including the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. Eventually, English language classes will be offered in all of Taiwan's primary schools, beginning in the third grade. Some kindergartens are already offering private English lessons. Passing an English proficiency test is now a prerequisite in Taiwan for college graduation. Some high-ranking government officials support making English an official language in Taiwan.

Higher Education Trends

Between the five-year period from 1997-2002, Taiwan has seen an increase in the number of its high schools, colleges and universities. Corresponding to this increase has been a reduction in the number of vocational high schools and junior colleges. These changes are reflected in the table below:

School Type	High Schools	Vocational High School	Jr. Colleges	Colleges	Universities
1997	228	284	61	48	38
2002	295	178	19	78	57

As the number of institutions of higher learning has grown in Taiwan, so, too, has the number of students enrolling in colleges and universities. Whereas the number of undergraduates was 812,223 in 1997, the total increased to 1,084,012 in 2002. Similarly, the number of graduate students grew from 43,963 to 103, 213 over the same five-year period. A more open application system accounts, in part, for an increase in domestic enrollment. However, even with more domestic institutions of higher learning on the island, questions about the quality of education have not been resolved. As a result, many students are still seeking opportunities to go abroad to pursue advanced degrees.

Out of the 33, 791 students from Taiwan studying abroad in 2002, less than 41 percent chose to study in the United States. According to Ministry of Education statistics, countries that showed a gain in the percentage of Taiwan students include the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and Japan. The number of Taiwan students going to study in the United States in 2002 was 13,767, representing a 7.5 percent decrease from the previous year. Among the 28,390 students from Taiwan who were enrolled at American universities in 2002, 54 percent were graduate students, 34 percent were undergraduates, and 12 percent were non-degree or ESL students.

The following table illustrates the market change from the years 2001 to 2002 in terms of the percentage of Taiwan's students going to the top eight receiving countries.

For the purpose of assisting U.S. schools to maximize their recruitment efforts in Taiwan, IEF proposed various strategies. U.S. institutions were urged to establish cooperative relationships with local schools, such as summer programs; to provide English teachers for internship programs; to increase communications with students via the Internet; and to make frequent interim visits to Taiwan between fairs to meet with prospective students.

Each year, the IEF Education Foundation Scholarship Committee awards a limited number of scholarships to qualified students from Taiwan who have been accepted by accredited American educational institutions and plan to enroll during the Fall term. Application materials were available to students at each of the American Education Fair venues. IEF will administer over NT$10 million in scholarship funds during the period from 2003 - 2004.

It was announced at the Fair that the IEF Education Foundation's advising center in Taipei recently was chosen to be a recipient of a NAFSA-ETS Excellence Award for overseas advising centers. This honor, which was bestowed upon only four overseas advising centers worldwide, gave a great boost of encouragement to the IEF staff in Taipei. Open on a year-round basis, the advising center strives to provide quality services to Taiwan's students as well as to U.S. school representatives.

Officially recognized by the U.S. State Department as an Overseas Educational Advising Center, IEF's Taipei Center holds free monthly seminars on a variety of topics related to studying in the United States. At the Center, professional counselors assist students with school placement decisions, application advice and other relevant topics. Short-term training programs educate students and businesspersons on the American educational system and culture. Additionally, the Center maintains a vast collection of catalogs, application materials and videotapes from many U.S. colleges and universities. Official representatives of U.S. educational institutions can make arrangements to avail themselves of the Center's services when they visit Taipei during the hiatus between the American Education Fairs.

If your recruitment itinerary will be taking you to Taiwan this fall, we welcome you to contact IEF well in advance of your trip to take advantage of the three-city 2003 American Education Fall Fair in Taiwan. Exhibition dates October 17th-18th in Taipei, October 19th in Kaohsiung, and October 20th in Taichung.

Students fill the lobby before entering the exhibition area. The U.S. is the top education destination for students from Taiwan, and the venue decorations make it clear that this is the place to be to learn about American schools.

Study-in-the-USA seminars were arranged at all three venues in Taiwan.
Pictured is a presentation by Georgetown University and Central Washington University for a group of prospective students.

Well decorated booths attract student attention and inspire inquiries.

Each booth is provided with an official student interpreter in a yellow vest.
Some booths also have student volunteers (distinguishable by their stars and stripes vests).

School representatives try to keep up with the hustle and bustle of the Fair.

Students wait patiently in line to have their questions answered by school officials.

Students from Taiwan are demonstrating greater English proficiency than in previous years. As a result, school representatives can often interact with them directly.

Student discussions in the exhibition aisles are a common sight at all three venues in Taiwan.

Recently, Taiwan students have shown greater interest in Art and Design courses.