Public higher education in the process of decentralization since 1987: The case of Taiwan (China)

For various reasons and advantages, decentralization is widely adopted and implemented by a number of countries around the globe as a governance strategy in their education systems. Taiwan is no exception to this global trend. Taiwan's higher education decentralization has been employed and carried out since 1987. During this period, decentralization has substantially affected the governance of higher education, especially that of public institutions. This study examined the effects of decentralization on the finance and management of higher education, especially those effects of the new funding pattern and the state financial withdrawal on educational quality between and within public higher education institutions in the decentralization process.; Since the implementation of decentralization, the Ministry of Education had delegated substantial "allocative" and "regulatory" authorities, and responsibilities to local public higher education institutions. In this decentralization process, public institutions were empowered to enjoy more academic freedom and university autonomy in the respects of personnel, finance, and curricula. Nonetheless, the new funding pattern and the increasing self-fundraising ratio were found to have contributed to the financial stringency of public institutions of higher education, and which had substantial effects on educational quality between and within public institutions. As the financial constraints become increasingly pressing, the ability to raise funds from alternative sources was increasingly crucial to quality and development of public higher education institutions and individual colleges within them.; Without appropriate redress, pubic higher education institutions and fields with strong fundraising capability are likely to fall into a virtuous circle, but those having weak ability to generate funding are likely to fall into a vicious circle. Accordingly, educational disparity in terms of quality between and within pubic institutions is expected to deteriorate in the process of decentralization. This study contributes to our knowledge about the effects of decentralization on the governance of public higher education institutions from the perspectives of its various stakeholders according to the specific contexts they were situated. It also facilitates the bridging of the gap between theory and practice.