55 students of College of Engineering are admitted to the “4+1 program,” a new policy offered by College of Engineering. Students who enter in “4+1 program” can spend only five years taking both bachelor and master degrees. Dr. Yu Gwo-hsing, Dean of College of Engineering, indicates that this new policy has attracted many excellent college students of TKU to pursue master degrees in their alma mater. Take Dept. of Civil Engineering for example. In the old days, the best students who would stay at TKU to study the master program were ranked around No. 20 among seniors. However, because of the “4+1 program,” 9 juniors in the top-ten list will stay at their original department to finish the master program. Dept. of Water Resources and Environmental Engineering even reserves Chang Li-wei, the best junior student of the department, and Chang Chia-yun, who is ranked the third among the juniors, as well as Tong Ya-fang, who is ranked the fourth.

Dr. Yu explains that many universities in Taiwan have already set up the “4+1 program” to raise the efficiency of academic research. In addition, through this program, outstanding students can commence their research project earlier and get the degree sooner. He points out that the candidates of “4+1 program” still need to pass the recommendation program held in November to become official graduate students. Chang Chia-yun expressed that she did not plan to study the master’s program, but she changed her mind because of the “4+1 program.” “To get the master degree one year in advance is a good way to increase my competitive advantages,” said Chang. For more information about the program, please visit http://www2.tku.edu.tw/~te/. ( ~Shu-chun Yen )