The Ministry of Education recently announced that there would be 35 new programmes created in academic year 2013, as a result of Taiwanese institutions' intention to respond to the emerging student interests in certain subjects at the postgraduate level.

New programmes are created mostly in the areas of Tourism Management, Design, and Communications. MoE commented that most of these programme creation related heavily to the needs of industries. As the number of visitors to Taiwan grows year on year, Tourism Management has become an increasingly popular subject, especially at Master’s level.

Design/Visual Arts has the second most number of new programmes created. It is believed that the government support in Creative Arts industry has played a positive role in guiding the country’s talent development.

Meanwhile, part-time and/or Executive Master’s programmes are expected to reduce presence due to their relative high level of fees and decreased demand. 44 programmes will cease to operate in the Academic Year 2013, reported United Daily.