Hualien is probably the best. It’s about 2 hours from Taipei on the express Taroko train. It’s on the east coast, which is the least developed part of Taiwan although Hualien itself is a fair-sized town. Not much work there though.
Oft repeated? Have I said it that much? FT.com, businessweek.com and those that review MBA programs all have(or had) an ROI calculator.
Possibly my views are a bit cynical……The reason I say only a top 20 school is that a good portion of the MBA value comes from the school’s selection process. Top 20 schools are good at picking people who are already successful and who will likely be successful going forward and getting them to attend. The degree becomes an economic signaler – like a seal of good housekeeping. Add to this the facts the tuition is relatively similar, the education is generally similar, (despite all the marketing), your foregone wages are the same, and the ROI story begins to make sense.
As for me, I would only do an MBA if that is what I enjoyed. If a good ROI came, great; if not, at least I did something I enjoyed.
I do know exceptional people who went to lower tier schools and have done very, very, well for themselves. I’m not exceptional, so I need all the help I can get.
Yes, your ROI story would make sense if all those things were true, but they’re not. The tuition isn’t even remotely similar between top and mid-tier schools, particularly state universities.
Since you’re already a PM, that may be true. Maybe not. Either way, I think looking for a job at one of the multinationals is a great idea.
Perhaps the thing to do is to get as much education, along with the degrees, as you can. Go to the best University that you can afford. It may or may not help you in life, but it most likely wouldn’t hurt your opportunities later on.
Dunno about the specific ROI, but in my case, the MBA paid off in guanxi, which is priceless here in Taiwan. 
I also support the idea of getting out of the city -for Pete’s sake, don’t go to Shida!- especially since I was reading a blog by this Spanish guy who’s studying in Taichung. Aside from language lessons, they get cooking lesons, photography lessons, etc. plus great sightseeing tours. They even give them uniforms. And they get to live in a beautiful campus in a less crowded city than us.
I’d say you are in a much better position than me. I just finished high school and will be going straight to Taiwan to study Mandarin for a year. I don’t really have much else planned beyond this, but my cousin was telling me about an MBA program that Missouri State does with a city in the Mainland… I just hope things will pan out once I get to taiwan next week.
I did that. I didn’t go to grad school until a decade later, but it worked out well.
Well, lets see. The most expensive school (a top 3) is 101k. The cheapest is 50k. The avg hiring salary for the most expensive school is 120k, not including a signing bonus. The avg hiring salary for the least expensive school is 90k, (higher than many more expensive schools), not including a signing bonus. This means the difference is covered in 2 years by base salary alone. Usually there is a 20+k delta in the signing bonus and the increase in salaries over the first yearwill also be different, so maybe the gap is covered in a year. Of course, this ignores that only 70 something percent of grads from the cheapest school have any jobs offers at all, much less one they like.
So, maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have been more snobby and said top 5 schools instead of top 20.
http://bwnt.businessweek.com/interactive_reports/mba_domestic_2008/index.asp
I think Icon is right. The connections you make are very important. If you want to have your career in Taiwan, a school like the TaiDa EMBA is a very sound choice.
Anyway, as I said. Do it if it interests you and for no other reason.
I hate Taipei but I would still recommend MTC for learning Chinese. Taipei as a city will allow you to concentrate on the Chinese without getting frustrated by daily life and NTNU as a school is one of the best for learning Chinese. I guess US$350/month will get you a decent place as a student bum in the outskirts of Taipei but don’t forget deposit, bills, food, clothes, entertainment and other expenses.
From a career perspective if you plan to live in Taiwan or Asia long term then intensively studying Chinese now will be the best thing you ever do. If you don’t end up living in Asia long term then it’s probably a complete waste of time and money.
If you are on the fence and coming for a year would not cripple you financially then do it anyway. Even if Chinese is not useful in your future career you will not regret the experience.