My husband and I moved to Taipei at the end of December. I currently work and he is planning on finishing his Bachelor’s degree at a local university starting in the Fall (he has some credits from the US that will hopefully transfer). We have done some research and found a few local universities that offer English-only degree programs (in limited areas such as Business, International Relations, Tourism, etc.). We are trying to figure out what the reputations of these schools are, which one would be a good fit, and basically hear about the experience of anyone else who has pursued a degree in Taiwan.
Here are our current top choices:
Soochow University
Shih Chien University
Tamkang University
Can’t comment on the quality of any of these schools. But if it’s a matter of having a larger choice of majors, your husband could also consider distance learning programs. Examples would be the Open University in UK, Fernuni Hagen in Germany, etc.
all three of those are in the middle upper tier for undergraduate programs. Tamkang used to be lousy, but they’ve got their reputation up recently. Soochow has always been good. I’d rank Shih Chien slightly lower than the other two actually .
It really depends where you want to live.
i believe you should also consider the public universities since they are usually on the top rankings in Taiwan and have better reputation
Updated Source: http://www.webometrics.info/en/Asia/Taiwan
Moreover, the tuitions fees for public universities are more cheaper than the private ones cause they’re sponsored by Taiwan government
Btw, I did my bachelor degree in Chengchi Univesity and it was completely in English.
Moreover, Chengchi University is the one with most English taught courses and the firts one to start teaching them, which means more experince. Furthermore, it has more associations with foreign colleges and it even has dual degree programs.
Thank you everyone for your feedback, much appreciated!
We picked these universities almost solely based on location. We live in the Beitou area and have a young son so would prefer to cut down on travel time. Chengchi sounds like a great option but unfortunately it is pretty much as far away from us as you can get.
@DakenX or others, would you consider those top public universities hard to get into if you have a less than stellar academic record?
@hannahjweav - thanks for starting this - I am not in a dissimilar situation to your husband. I’m working on my Chinese first but was wondering about transferring credits (from the UK) for use over here.
I wish you both the best of luck - do let us know if anything interesting (good or bad) happens or you think someone else on here (not just limited to, but including, me) would want to know.
Most universities provide incentive to attract more foreigners to their programs and create an “international atmosphere” so i guess academic record is not the main focus (not to say it’s not important).
Giving that you’re living in Beitou area i would suggest Soochow University. My wife (Taiwanese National) did her bachelor there and it’s not far from top touristic spots like Shillin Night Market and National Palace Museum.
The thing is that you have to consider what you are going to do after you get the degree, the value and prestige, even in Taiwan, of such a degree.
Privates universities as said are far more expensive and do not carry as much weight locally, especially Shih Chien. In that case, Ming Chuan -campus is in Shilin- would be much better. Tamkang is OK. Soochow is great.
You must also check if, even if they say they have the programs in English, whether this is actually true. Some offer but it is actually not 100% taught in English. Check with alumni, not the school.
I recommend you to sit in the classes, go vist the campus, get a feel of the place before you choose.
Sorry, circling back to this…I’m reconsidering Chengchi because a lot of the other top public universities don’t offer English-taught Bachelor programs (only Master’s and PhDs). What did you study at Chengchi? According to this chart, they also don’t offer English-taught Bachelor degrees: 頁面無法使用
