The Ministry of Education will be holding the 2011 Taiwan Higher Education Fair in Thailand from February 12th to 15th in order to strengthen cultural and educational interchange between Taiwan and Thailand, and to attract Thai students to Taiwan for studies. There will be a total of 48 prominent Taiwan universities as well as three international academic exchange organizations with over 145 representatives to participate in the fair held in Thailand. They will be providing information about international curriculum in different fields of study as well as the different scholarships that are available. The 2011 Taiwan Higher Education Fair, Thailand will be held at two locations, Bangkok and Chiang Mai. The two grand Taiwan-Thailand Education Fair will take place respectively in Siam Paragon in Bangkok on 2/12-13 and Chiang Mai University on 2/15.
This education fair will be headed by the Ministry of Education, Taiwan. Participating members of the fair include university presidents, vice-presidents, academic affairs chiefs and staff members responsible for international exchange and student affairs. This is the first time that these Taiwan universities have collaborated together to host student recruitment event in Thailand. During this fair, each university will set up a booth in each of the two locations to disseminate information on student recruitment. The booths provide a face to face environment where school representatives can provide school introductions, explain curriculum and application process, and also provide information on scholarships and other related issues. In addition, the Taiwan-Thailand Education Forum mainly aims at academia-industry cooperation, preparing for the sound communication of higher education and talent development on both sides, in the hope for opening a new page for the academic exchanges between Thailand Taiwan.
Taiwan's higher education standard is in the lead in Southeast Asia. According to statistics from America's Institute for Scientific Information, in 2008 Taiwan rank 17th worldwide in the SCI for research publications, 15th worldwide for the SSCI, and 9th in the world according to Elsevier Engineering Information, which is the largest engineering database in the world. These results for academic publications clearly display Taiwan's ability in research and development capacity in the area of science and technology.
Taiwan in recent years has also become one of the top choices for foreign students. The number of foreign students studying in Taiwan has grown from 11,729 in 2005 to 22,366 in 2009. According to the statistics of 2009, universities of Taiwan and Thailand have signed 29 agreements —among which 24 were establishing partner schools connections, and 3 establishing dual-degree programs. According to the newest statistics, there are now 1,109 Thai students studying in Taiwan—with 358 pursuing degrees, 402 studying Mandarin, 322 as Overseas Chinese students, and 149 attending short term exchange programs. In contrast with the number in 2001, only 162 Thai students studying in Taiwan, which means there is a ten-fold increase of students. Also, today’s student’s numbers are doubling than last year’s 637. On the other hand, there is a significant growth of students from Taiwan to study in Thailand. In 2009 there were only 95 students obtained Thailand student visas, while in 2010 the number was up to 150. Each of the statistics mentioned above demonstrates the academic exchange between the two countries is on a continuous rise.
As for tuition and miscellaneous fees, for Taiwan's public universities, the average tuition for a semester in medical school is 30,000 to 35,000 NT Dollars; in sciences and engineering the average is between 25,000 to 30,000; in humanities, law and business the average is between 20,000 to 25,000. While the tuition costs for private universities, on average, are double that of public ones. In order to attract outstanding students to study in Taiwan, each university is offering many different opportunities for scholarships; furthermore, since 2004 the Taiwan government has offered the Taiwan Scholarship and schools in alliance with the ESIT provide other opportunities to apply for scholarships as well. This Taiwan Higher Education Thai Fair will have correlating information regarding the various scholarship opportunities.
There are many prominent universities in Taiwan that are members of the alliance, with a current total of 33 members and 250 different fields with international curriculum taught in English. The Elite StudyInTaiwan Program Office website provides information for recruitment at alliance universities as well as scholarships and online applications.
To learn more about the 2010 Taiwan Higher Education Fair, Thailand and each of the participating universities, please visit http://www.esit.org.tw.
