Taiwan prides itself on being a free, modern, and democratic society. It’s also a technologically advanced nation that has placed education and research at the forefront. Given these ideals, it comes as no surprise that students from all around the globe flock to Taiwan.
Yearly, international students choose Taiwan as their next study destination as it offers proven quality education. There are also many programs and degrees open to them. If you’re an international student here, you’ll surely get an awesome learning experience!
Coupled with the country’s reasonable cost of living, Taiwanese education will not hurt your pocket as much as that of Western countries. This is especially the case if you decide to enroll in any of these affordable Taiwanese universities. As you can see below, you can study at these universities for under USD 4,000 per year, and these universities are some of the best in Taiwan and in Asia.
In this article, we have listed the cheapest Taiwanese universities you can consider for your studies.
Affordable Schools in Taiwan for International Students
1. National Cheng Kung University
The National Cheng Kung University, or NCKU, is a public educational institution founded in 1931. As with most schools, the former Tainan Technical College was under the Japanese administration. National Cheng Kung University is one of the cheapest universities in Taiwan, with undergraduate tuition fees starting from approximately USD 3,000 a year and graduate tuition fees starting from approximately USD 3,600 a year.
Based in Tainan, NCKU is famous for its Medical, Engineering, Computer Science, and Planning & Design programs. It also offers a combined number of 42 bachelor’s and 72 master’s degrees in Bioscience & Biotechnology, Social Science, Management, Liberal Arts, and Science.
True to its goal of being a global university, NCKU has fostered international cooperation agreements with the Technical University of Munich (Germany), the University of Southern California (US), and Seoul National University (South Korea), to name a few.
NCKU has more than 20,500+ students; international enrollees represent 13% of the population.
2. National Taipei University
- Admissions | Tuition Fee | Scholarships
- Tuition Fees: From TWD 47,378/semester (Undergraduate) | From TWD 55,522/semester (Master’s) | From TWD 68,777/semester (Ph.D.)
Famously known as NTPU, the National Taipei University, one of the cheapest universities in Taiwan, is a public educational institution with campuses in New Taipei and Zhongshan. NTPU started in 1949 as the Taiwan Provincial College of Law & Business before it became the Taiwan Provincial Chung Hsing University. It eventually became the College of Law & Business of the National Chung Hsing University before transforming into the current NTPU.
Given its history, NTPU specializes in social science, humanities, business, and law. Apart from these areas, NTPU also offers undergraduate and graduate courses in Public Affairs, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science. The institution has memorandum agreements with over 100 universities and has more than 8,000 students. However, it only has a small international population of 4%. NTPU is ranked as one of the world’s best ‘young’ universities. It is also listed as one of the most prestigious institutions in all of Asia.
Regarding tuition fees, the bachelor’s tuition fee is around USD 3,200 per year, the Master’s is around USD 3,600 per year, and the PhD is around USD 4,600 per year. You should add around USD 500 per year for miscellaneous fees on top of this.
3. National Chung Hsing University
Founded in 1919, the National Chung Hsing University (NCHU) is a research-intensive institution in Taichung, Taiwan. It is one of the members of the Taiwan Comprehensive University System, an alliance of institutions that prioritize academic research. Formerly the Advanced Academy of Agronomy & Forestry, NCHU advanced into a national university in 1971. Its urban campus is home to the Colleges of Liberal Arts, Engineering, Science, Veterinary Medicine, Life Science, Law and Politics, Agriculture, Social Science, and Management. NCHU is home to 15,000+ local and foreign students, 7% of whom hail from outside Taiwan.
Regarding tuition fees, the tuition fees for bachelor’s, Master’s, and PhD students are around USD 3,000 per year, which makes NCHU an affordable choice for international students.
4. Tzu Chi University
- Tuition Fees
- Tuition Fees: from TWD 46,831/semester (Undergraduate) | from TWD 30,740/semester (Master’s) | from TWD 43,782/semester (Ph.D.)
Tzu Chi University is a private educational institution in Hualien County. This cheap university in Taiwan was founded by the Tzu Chi Foundation in 1994 as the Tzu Chi Medical College. With the addition of social science and humanities courses in 1998, the school was renamed the Tzu Chi College of Medicine & Humanities. Eventually, it adopted its current name two years later.
The university has a College of Medicine, Humanities & Social Science, and Education & Communication. It also has an International College that offers a Bachelor’s degree in the Management of Service Industries.
Although Tzu Chi University only has 3,500+ students, 12% come from international backgrounds.
5. Kaohsiung Medical University
- Admissions | Tuition Fees | Scholarships
- Tuition Fees: from USD 1,800 per semester (Undergraduate) | from USD 1,600 per semester (Master’s) | from USD 1,600 per semester (PhD)
Kaohsiung Medical University, KMU, is a private educational institution in the Sanmin District. Like its name, it specializes in the studies of Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Science, and Life Science.
The former Kaohsiung Medical College was founded in 1954 by Mayor Chen Chi-chuan and Dr. Tu Tsong-ming, the first Taiwanese to hold a Ph.D. in the Medical Sciences. It eventually attained university status in the year 1999.
The university, which only offers six undergraduate and 15 graduate programs, is the only institute that offers graduate-entry medical programs in the country. Despite these limitations, KMU is regarded as one of the best universities in Asia and the world.
KMU has a small population of 6,802 students compared to other Taiwanese schools. Although this is the case, it is very welcoming to international enrollees. To date, they represent 7% of the total population.
6. National Taiwan University
The National Taiwan University, one of the most affordable universities in Taiwan, is considered the most prestigious institution in all of Taiwan. It is the alma mater of many Taiwanese presidents, including incumbent Tsai Ing-Wen. Ranked 97th in the world, it is home to 24,880 students, 12% of whom are of foreign descent.
NTU started in 1928 as Taihoku Imperial University, the seventh of Japan’s old imperial universities. It was eventually renamed NTU in 1945, when the Taiwanese government assumed administration of the school.
NTU has campuses in Daan, Yunlin, Hsinchu, and two in Zhongzheng. These collectively house the university’s 11 colleges: Engineering, Liberal Arts, Medicine, Life Science, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, Public Health, Management, Agriculture, Law, Social Science, Science, and Bio-resources.
FAQs: Studying in Taiwan
What are the Requirements for Studying in Taiwan?
To study in Taiwan, you need to submit a high school diploma (for undergraduates) or a bachelor’s/master’s diploma (for graduate students). Depending on the university or your desired program, you may need to provide additional documents such as a transcript of records, curriculum vitae, portfolio, etc.
Can you study in English at Taiwanese Universities?
Yes, you can study in English at Taiwanese universities. While undergraduate programs are mostly taught in Chinese, some classes are taught in English. At Taipei Tech, for example, some Engineering, Computer Science, and Business subjects are in English. As for Master’s and Ph.D. degrees, many of them are fully taught in English. Such is the case at schools such as the National Taiwan Normal University. However, even if your chosen program uses English as a medium of instruction, you should learn Mandarin for conversational and basic uses.
Affordability is one of the key challenges for international students selecting higher learning institutions to pursue their desired program. Taiwan is one of the best universities to study for international students who do not wish to break the bank or are not in a position to afford high tuition costs.
We hope this article on the cheap universities in Taiwan was helpful. Check out the Study in Taiwan and Available Programs for International Students pages for more articles like this.
