132 college departments, institutes in Taiwan enroll no local students in 2019

TAIPEI -- A total of 132 college departments and institutes in Taiwan did not enroll any local students in the 2019 academic year, according to local media.

Among the schools were 10 postgraduate institutes for doctors in Taiwan's five elite universities including Taiwan University, Hsinchu-based Tsing Hua University and Chengchi University, the United Daily News reported, quoting the island's education authorities.

Meanwhile, in six colleges, mostly private ones, the number of students enrolled in the 2019 academic year failed to reach 60 percent of the available spots, the education authorities said.

The authorities and universities attributed the situation to multiple factors, including the shrinking number of young people due to the low birth rate and the exclusion of students from outside Taiwan in the statistics.