The Taiwan Scholarship Program is designed to encourage promising students from foreign countries to pursue their undergraduate or postgraduate degree studies in Taiwan. A Taiwan Scholarship was awarded to four people: Jaime Miguel Oconee, Travis Wayne Greene, Sunyoung Park, and Charles Andrew Fernandez.

The Huayu Enrichment Scholarship (HES) Program was established to provide an excellent opportunity for international students to enhance their Chinese language skills and to gain new cultural experiences by being immersed in a Chinese-speaking environment. Thirty-seven applicants were awarded a HES scholarship for a short term 2-month program in the summer of 2017 or for a period of three months, six months, or nine months between September 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018.

Successful applicants who received a scholarship were invited to attend the pre-departure orientation held on June 29, 2017 by the Education Division of TECO in Los Angeles. Benson Wang, Deputy Director-General of TECO in LA, presented the scholarship certificates to the 2017 scholarship recipients. Then practical information about such things as the process for applying for residency in Taiwan, scholarship renewal regulations, and living and studying in Taiwan was provided. Several former scholarship recipients also attended to share details of their experience.

In addition to the scholarship recipients, three people who were selected to participate in the 2017 Taipei City Experience Education Program were also invited to the orientation: Andrea Ortiz, Johnnie Lemons, and Alex Lin. This program is available to undergraduate or recently graduated students and they will sometimes act as teaching assistants in Taiwan, helping to establish a bilingual learning environment and enrich English learning resources for students there. The program objectives are to provide foreign students with diverse learning experiences and cultural perspective, and enhance their teaching ability and leadership skills, and to demonstrate authentic use of the target language, and create real communication scenarios. Program participants enjoy many benefits, including free accommodation, cultural tours and activities in Taiwan, professional courses (all taught in English) and internship courses at the University of Taipei, a Taipei Easy Card, and National Health Insurance subsidy.

The application period for these two scholarship programs is from February 1 until March 31 every year. For more information about how to apply for a Taiwan Scholarship or Huayu Enrichment Scholarship, please visit http://www.tw.org/scholarships/. More details about the Taipei City Experience Education Program can be found at http://www.taiwanembassy.org/uslax/post/12138.html.