The 46th American Education Fair was held on October 17-18, 2015 in the CPC building in Taipei. The bi-annual event was co-organized by American Education Center, Taipei and American International Education Foundation (AIEF), Pasadena, California for the purpose of promoting American education in Taiwan. It also serves as a platform for U.S. educational institutions to recruit Taiwan students to study in the United States.

Prior to the Fair, several events were organized by American Education Center in Taipei to help fair delegates familiarize with the recruiting market in Taiwan.

On the morning of October 16th, Fair delegates visited AIT (American Institute in Taiwan), a U.S. Embassy-equivalent institute in Taiwan. The AIT Cultural Affairs Officer, Mr. Jesse Curtis, introduced the functions of AIT in Taiwan and provided an update on the current student and visitor visa policy as well as the studying abroad trend of Taiwanese students in the U.S.

Immediately following the AIT visit, fair delegates visited American Education Center in Taipei. A casual lunch was provided at the center while discussing topics such as American schools’ recruiting needs, possible collaboration models with local institutions in Taiwan, and how to better prepare students to study on U.S. campuses. All school delegates were introduced to the facilities and the functions of American Education Center in Taipei.

A Pre-fair orientation for the fair delegates was held on the morning of October 17th. Complimentary coffee and snacks were provided at the event.

Ms. Sara Tsou of American Education Center in Taipei presented updates on Taiwan’s higher education system, recent educational reforms, international bilateral agreements, scholarship programs, and study-abroad trends. Tsou stated that the government in Taiwan has a standing policy that encourages students to study abroad and has recently launched an interest-free loan program to students via local city education departments. She also clarified the new draftee policy that allows male students over 18 years of age to study abroad prior to serving their military service. Further, Ms. Tsou pointed out that U.S. education has been the top choice of Taiwanese students’ for the past five decades. Since 1995, Taiwan has been sending over 14,000 students annually to attend U.S schools at varies levels. Tsou also provided a written outline by American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) on the newly released Visa Waiver Program for Taiwanese residents. Since its implementation in October 2012, AIT has experienced an over 30% increase in short-term visits to the U.S., including short-term studies.

Extensive pre-Fair publicity and promotional activities were administered by American Education Center prior to the fair. Activities included extensive coverage via social networks and radios. Dr. Kyu Park from Northeastern Illinois University was interviewed on ICRT, an English radio station in Taiwan. Ms. Sara Tsou from American Education Center was interviewed on Fu-Hsing Radio Station, a major Chinese radio station in Taiwan. In addition, American Education Center also launched various promotional activities via the following channels:

On Saturday and Sunday, October 17th-18th, the 2015 Fall American Education Fair was held in the China Petroleum Corporation (CPC) building, located close to the famous landmark Taipei 101, one of the tallest buildings in the world and a major tourist attraction. At the venue, every school booth was assigned a pre-trained interpreter, in yellow jacket, to assist American school representatives to communicate with the Fair visitors. In addition, each booth was also provided with a student volunteer to be school representative’s assistant. At the end of the Fair, surplus school materials at each booth were collected by the student volunteers for display in the library of American Education Center in Taipei.

A total of 1,191 student data was collected from the event, including the pre-fair student activities as well as the registration during the fair.

Several School representatives conducted seminars at the Fair venue. Seminar topics included “Real World Education Entertainment, Media & Arts Industry & Technology” by Full Sail University; “Save up to 50% on your college tuition: Learn about the best kept secrets of two-year colleges” by Cascadia College; “Find your Future at Northeastern in Chicago” by Northeastern Illinois University; “Share my Study and Career life in the U.S.A.” by a previous AEC student, Edward Lee, graduated from Carnegie Mellon University; and etc.

As one of the feature services of American Education Fair in Taipei, student data are collected through a student tracking system during the fair and it is Free to all participant schools. The student tracking system identifies prospect students who visited each school’s booth. At the Fair entrance, each visitor will be assigned a serial number, which will be recorded in a visitor’s log by student volunteers at each booth. At the Fair end, American Education Center in Taipei collects the logs from each booth and completes all information into a student database. Once the data verification is done, student data will be sent to each participating school according to the visiting log at each booth.

Complimentary copies of the 2015 Fall Fair Guide were distributed to all Fair visitors. The Fair Guide covered participant schools’ profiles with brief introductions, venue layout, seminar schedules, school advertisements, and articles regarding studying in the U.S.A. Reference materials, such as books, catalogs, and UScampus Website were on display at the fair to help students search for information about study in the USA.

The 2016 Spring Fair will be held on March 19^th and 20^th, 2016 in Taipei.

Registration will be opened soon. For more information, please email American Education Center in Taipei at service@aeif.org.tw or call (886)2-2705-8840.