According to the original Regulations, the MOE only recognized Hong Kong’s and Macao’s B.A. degrees. It did not recognize higher diplomas awarded by their technical and vocational education system, which would be the equivalent of Taiwan’s two-year junior college diplomas. Recently, many countries have been actively enrolling Hong Kong and Macau students. Moreover, Taiwan not only has a complete technical and vocational education system, but also provides additional space for the enrollment of foreign students in its colleges. The MOE amended Article 2, Article 4 and Article 10 of its Regulations Regarding the Assessment and Recognition of Academic Credentials for the Hong Kong and Macao Areas (http://edu.law.moe.gov.tw/), in order to enroll more Hong Kong and Macau students who have higher diplomas in technical and vocational education to study at Taiwan’s colleges. Officially assessing and recognizing Hong Kong’s and Macau’s higher degrees will enhance their students’ motivation to study in Taiwan, simplify
the entrance procedures, and help to internationalize Taiwan’s institutions of higher education.

In the future, Hong Kong and Macau students who want to study in Taiwan will only need to submit their higher diplomas and a complete transcript for purposes of authentication to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Hong Kong (http://www.taiwaninfo.org/authentication.htm) or Macau (http://www.boca.gov.tw/content.asp?cuItem=146&mp=1). Additionally, students need to apply for and submit the relevant documents from the colleges they want to study at. All these simplified procedures will make it much easier for foreign students to study in Taiwan.