First merger of public and private universities approved

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education has approved the merger plan of National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech) and Hwa Hsia University of Technology, the first ever in Taiwan involving public and private universities, write Chen Chih-chung and Chao Yen-hsiang for Focus Taiwan.

Yang Yu-hui, head of the ministry’s Department of Technological and Vocational Education, said Taiwan Tech and Hwa Hsia, a private technical university located in Zhonghe District in New Taipei, were notified of the ministry’s approval on Thursday 18 May. The consolidation plan was approved as proposed without any further conditions, Yang said.

Many private universities, including Hwa Hsia, have struggled to enrol students and stay afloat as the number of university-age students in Taiwan declines because of the precipitous fall in the country’s birth rate. In the 2022-23 school year, Hwa Hsia only filled 42.39% of its openings, the fifth lowest rate of any private university in Taiwan.
Full report on the Focus Taiwan site