In the academic year of 2017-2018, the number of high school graduates in Taiwan enrolling in overseas bachelor programs is approaching 1,584, 2.52 times the number in 2011, 627, based on the most recent statistic by Ministry of Education in Taiwan. It comprised merely 0.72% of the total number of graduates; however, the percentage has been stably growing since then, regardless the decreasing birthrate and population. The possible reasons are Influence of the globalization and the active recruitment of students in Taiwan by internationally renowned schools, and the uncertainty caused by the changeable education policies.

Here are the key findings.

1.      The ratio of the number from the top 10 schools to the total number of high school graduates studying abroad is around 37%.

2.      In 2017, the five schools with the most graduates choosing to study abroad were as follows (ranked in descending order): the private Kang Chiao Bilingual School (187 students), National Experimental High School at Hsinchu Science Park (61 students), Ming-Dao High School (50 students), I-Shou International School (47 students), and Washington High School (47 students). Among the traditional elite public schools, The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University had the most number of graduating students studying overseas (47 students), followed by Taipei First Girls High School (45 students). National Wu-Ling Senior High School increased to 26, and National Taichung First Senior High School surged from 1 to 11. Some private schools have a higher percentage of students studying abroad because of the operation mission and/ or the smaller number of students. For example, Kang Chiao Bilingual School had 74% of its graduating students studying overseas in 2017, same as at the private I-Shou International School, with a figure over 60%, while at the Taipei Fushing Private School, it was over 25%. Research indicates that this is also related to the fact that these schools label themselves as bilingual schools, or they have special courses for studying overseas purposes. On the other hand, the National Experimental High School at Hsinchu Science Park was purposefully set up to provide schooling for the families working at Hsinchu Science Park, families with foreign nationality children born to Taiwanese parents or children of returning scholars from overseas; the school had almost 30% of its students studying overseas after graduation. 

According to the data from the Ministry of Education (MOE), here are the key findings:

- The number of students enrolled in schools in major countries overseas had risen by 2,700 to nearly 40,000 in 2016, setting an 11-year high.

- The number of people who took out student loans to study abroad in 2016 topped 700, the most in the last five years in Taiwan.

- There were only about 37.0 percent of those who would like to pursue a higher degree were interested in graduate programs in Taiwan, with the rest wanting to go overseas.

- The top destination for those hoping to study abroad was the United States and Canada, followed by Europe and Japan.

More details and data tables are as below:

The Ministry of Education, which at one point was concerned not enough young Taiwanese were going abroad, found in 2016 that the number of students enrolled in schools in major countries overseas had risen by 2,700 to nearly 40,000, setting an 11-year high.

The number of people who took out student loans to study abroad last year topped 700, the most in the last five years, indicating that young people are heading abroad in increasing numbers, even if they have to borrow money to do it.

 

At the end of June this year, one of the most popular magazines in Taiwan - CommonWealth conducted a “Survey on NTU(National Taiwan University) Graduates’ Intentions and Motivation in Going Abroad.” Online questionnaires were sent to the 18 departments that have the highest test scores required for admission.

The survey found that 48.0 percent of respondents planned to continue their studies immediately after graduating or after working for a couple of years. Another 40.9 percent said they would enter the job market, while 10 percent were preparing for national exams (to apply for civil servant jobs). Of the nearly half that wanted to pursue a higher degree, only about a third (37.0 percent) were interested in graduate programs in Taiwan, with the rest wanting to go overseas.

 

The top destination for those hoping to study abroad was the United States and Canada, chosen by 70 percent of respondents, followed by Europe and Japan. The top consideration cited by 85 percent of those wanting to go abroad when choosing an overseas location was career development, followed by the caliber of education.

Overall, 40 percent of the students graduating from the 18 leading departments were planning to go abroad to advance their studies or head overseas to work, and they are likely to settle in another country.

Also, Taiwanese students’ practice of “voting for schools with their feet” has seen a dramatic shift in the past five years. Citing Ministry of Education statistics, NTU’s Kang, the deputy vice president for academic affairs says the number of senior high school students in Taiwan who immediately go abroad after graduating doubled in six years to 1,478 in the 2016 school year.

 <See full article of CommonWealth>

http://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=1649

Data from Department of Statistics, Ministry of Education, Taiwan

Reference: CommonWealth, http://english.cw.com.tw/

In January 2013, the Prime Minister of Vietnam issued a decision entitled Regulation on Overseas Study of Vietnamese Citizens. The third chapter of the decision was of special interest to educational consulting companies.titled e“Management of Overseas Study Services” , this section stated that education agents would subsequently need to meet certain requirements in order to obtain certification. These requirements include the following:

• “The head of the organization of overseas study consultation services and the staff directly giving advice on overseas study must have a university degree or higher, be fluent in at least one foreign language and  possess the certificate of oversea (s) study consultation profession training granted by the Ministry of Education and Training” (MoET);"

• The agent  must demonstrate sufficient financial capacity “to ensure the settlement of cases of risk:”having a minimum deposit of VND 500 million (about US$22,400) per office in a commercial bank.

Local Departments of Education and Training (DoETs) are responsible for organizing the necessary training as mentioned above and overseeing the certification process, including a final exam that advisers must pass in order to receive their certification. The purpose of these regulations is to raise the standards of practice by regulating educational consulting companies at some level.

On July 1 2016, these certification requirements were abruptly discontinued, meaning that even more companies could additionally enter already extremely competitive market in Vietnam. Basically going back in time to 2012, the market continues to expand and mature. Through its National Assembly (Vietnam’s legislative body), the government thereby intends to limit bureaucracy and open up the market, giving students and parents more choices when it comes to select an education agent.

For example, eliminating the financial requirement is one less burden for existing companies and one less obstacle for new entrants. This new policy, or rather a return to the state of affairs of four years ago, is a sign of flexibility, a characteristic that the Vietnamese government values and has exhibited time and time and again in education and in many other fields.The role of the parent include doing extensive homework. Without external stamps of approval it is now up to them to decide which company will provide the highest-quality service for a most precious commodity, which is their children’s overseas study experience. They must do so based on their knowledge, comparison shopping, and thier own intuition. In respect to of international educators, the main change will be that they should expect to receive more solicitations from new education agents in Vietnam. This is of course a double-edged sword meaning more choices for students and parents but also potentially more work involved in screening new agent contacts.

There is plenty of help along the way, including professional associations such as NAFSA: Association of International Educators and, in particular, the National Association for College Admission Counseling, or NACAC, which approved a change to its ethical standards permitting the use of commissioned agents in the recruitment of international students in September 2013.The promising trend of rising consumer expectations in Vietnam is truer than ever. There are more parents and students who are now “educated consumers,” and who ask more and better questions based on access to higher-quality information both online and from their network of family and friends studying overseas. At the same time, education agents that value integrity and long-term success over short-term profit should embrace the notion that doing business ethically makes for better business. All in all, this is good news for all who work as members of a recruitment and student services team in facilitating individual investments in education that ultimately result in a public good.

The graduation season is upon us and the continuing of students’ education is an important issue faced not only by students. Parents will have already pro-actively put in place plans for the next stage of their child’s education. According to Mastercard’s latest “Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Education”, Taiwanese parents place great emphasis on the education of the next generation and understand the importance of advance financial planning for their children’s future education. More than 82% of Taiwanese parents establish an education trust fund for their children, the highest number in the Greater China region and higher also than neighboring South Korea and Japan. Furthermore, in order to provide children with the best educational environment half of all parents plan to arrange for their children to study overseas, with the US being the first choice.  

 Head of Mastercard Taiwan Eva Chen says: “According to the 2015 IMD World Talent Report, among the 61 countries surveyed, Taiwan’s talent competitiveness ranked 23rd, higher than Japan (26th), South Korea (31st) and China (40th). Evidently talent development has become the foundation for boosting competitiveness. In addition, the fact that the percentage of Taiwanese parents establishing education trust funds and spending on children’s education is at the forefront in the Asia-Pacific region shows that Taiwanese parents place a great amount of emphasis on the education of the next generation for the creating of a better future.”    

Taiwanese parents place great importance on the education of the next generation, and by ratio plan the most extensively for their children’s higher education fund out of the Greater China Region.Taiwanese parents wish to avoid their children losing out before the race has even begun and so invest heavily in their children’s futures, arranging for them to study a number of extra skills and talents. However, in order to sufficiently prepare for the next generation’s education, only fixed investment in, and prudent application of, an education fund will do. In Taiwan more than 82% of parents establish an education trust fund for their children, a figure that places the country first in Greater China and that is higher than neighboring South Korea (75%) and Japan (61%). This indicates that there is a general tendency for Taiwanese parents to plan ahead with regards to their children’s education.  In addition Taiwanese parents spend on average 17% of monthly household income on their children’s education, second highest in the Asia Pacific region, showing that even in the face of recent economic recession, Taiwanese parents are still fully committed to investing in the next generation.    

 Also, parents are not just committed to planning of education trust funds, they are also heavily involved in the planning of their children’s extracurricular time. Survey results show that nearly 60% of parents in the Asia-Pacific region arrange for their children to attend extracurricular activities. In Taiwan this figure is as high as 70%. The three most popular extracurricular activities are after-school tutoring (35%), foreign language classes (33%), and sports activities (31%). This shows that extracurricular activities attended by Taiwanese children are oriented towards enhancing classroom knowledge and languages so as to boost competitiveness.    

 50% of parents plan to send children overseas to study, America is the No. 1 destination.Education reforms in Taiwan in recent years have led to a glut of university admissions, in turn causing a university diploma bubble. Due to this Taiwanese parents have less and less faith in Taiwan’s education system and the next generation are apprehensive about their future. According to survey results 49% of parents feel that overseas educational systems are superior to Taiwan’s and 21% plan to send their children off-shore to receive their college education. America is the number choice of destinations for both Asia-Pacific and Taiwanese parents for their children’s education.

 Although studying abroad is the ideal educational blueprint that a large number of Taiwanese parents follow for the education plans of their children, 54% still plan for their children to attend local universities due to economic considerations. In addition, tuition fees for overseas study are continuing to rise and overseas study is no longer the only way to gain overseas experience. More and more students are taking part in student exchange programs, or working holiday and volunteer services abroad opportunities in order to develop a global outlook. This has led to a decrease of 21% year on year in the number of parents planning to send their children abroad to study. 

Active participation in further education, emphasis on self-development of competitivity in professional fields.In addition to cultivating the next generation, the Taiwanese public also places great emphasis on investment in personal professional skills so as to maintain a competitive edge in the workplace. Survey results show that in the next year 41% of Taiwanese will attend continuing education courses, considerably higher than the average for Asia-Pacific of 28%, placing the country third in the region. It is also a 4% increase from last year’s figure. The main objectives of those pursuing further education is to increase professional knowledge and to cultivate interests. In addition survey results show that Taiwanese investment in development of personal interests ranks second in the region, showing that Taiwanese are paying more and more attention to their daily lives and increasingly understand the importance of using personal time to develop their own interests.    

Mastercard’s “Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Education” was conducted during November and December of 2015. The Asia-Pacific regional report addressed 17 markets with 8,779 consumers in possession of bank accounts between the age of 18-64. Overall trends with regards to education consumption habits and values were evaluated. The 17 countries taking part in the “Survey on Consumer Purchasing Priorities – Education” were Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand. The survey itself does not reflect on the financial performance of Mastercard.