The Institutional Research Center of NCUE regularly tracks student graduation rate. To define the number of students who are potential graduates, the Center refers to the Ministry of Education’s “Forecast and Analysis Report on the Number of Students and Graduates in Colleges and Universities (Academic Year 2017-2032).” We set the minimum number of years to graduate based on students’ normal study duration at each degree level; A small number of early graduations is not included in the calculation. According to different student levels, the total number of students in each level (including extended-study students) above the ‘minimum study duration’ is summed up and defined as the ‘number of students likely to graduate.’ In a four-year bachelor’s program, for example, since the ‘minimum graduation period’ is 4 years, the number of students who are potential to graduate is the sum of students in the fourth year and those in extended study. The graduation rate is calculated by dividing the actual number of graduates by the number of potential graduates. In 2023-2024 academic year, the graduation rates of female graduates in the bachelor’s program and Doctoral program were higher than those of male students, whereas in master’s programs, the graduation rate of female students was lower than that of males, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Tracking of the graduation rate of female students at NCUE for the 2023-2024 academic year

Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, many female students choose to enroll in the master’s class, master’s in-service professional class, and doctoral class when they’re about 30 years old. This is a critical period of life. Factors such as marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, or raising children under the age of three may affect their education and graduation. Article 17 of the school rules stipulates that students may extend their studies considering their pregnancy, childbirth, or childrearing. After the events, the study duration can be extended for up to two years to reduce the possibility of affecting female students’ graduation. Please refer to the following website for the school rules:
https://acadaff.ncue.edu.tw/var/file/2/1002/img/848318346.pdf(PDF)

The parent law of this law is the Gender Equity Education Act, Article 14-1 of the Ministry of Education. For the English version, please refer to:
https://law.moj.gov.tw/Eng/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?PCode=H0080067

Policy established: 2004

Policy reviewed: 2023