Abstract

The issue of high college tuition has recently become a focus of public attention. Even President Chen Shui-bian showed concern. He said tuition in Taiwan is generally lower than that in the United States and Japan, and that college education is a kind of "investment." His comments sparked a string of refutation and criticism from anti-high college tuition groups.

President Chen was born and raised in a poor family when Taiwan was considered an impoverished society. The government managed to maintain a low tuition policy, assisting youngsters like Chen to complete their higher education. Then why suddenly can't Taiwan, which is much better off now, afford to sustain a low tuition policy?

President Chen said that as more and more high school leavers opt for advanced studies, they should look upon college education as a kind of investment and should map out a financial plan in advance. However, with such a sluggish economy and a high unemployment rate, a college education to an individual has become a "high investment, low return" business in Taiwan.

The Executive Yuan established a high tuition policy in 1996, but the policy did not pose any pressure on the government until recently. In fact, whether tuition is high or not high is a problem of relative feeling. It is not just a mere comparison of figures. If per capita income, together with the tuition, is increasing year by year people may not become aware of the high tuition. Conversely, if per capita income declines, as the tuition climbs up, they may feel the pressure. What we cannot ignore is that the high tuition is a reflection of the phenomenon of Taiwan's economic recession. In other words, the tuition is not as high as one might conceive.

The year of 2002 is an important indicator. Economic growth for that year went sharply down to minus 2.18 percent, as compared to 5.86 percent in the preceding year. With the number of the unemployed growing upward and the family income on the decrease day by day, people naturally would become conscious of the high pressure from tuition.

Therefore it should be for those in power to examine their conscience why Taiwan's economy has increasingly been on the wane, resulting in the widespread feeling of a much higher tuition under the high tuition policy.

.....the full text in chinese