National Taiwan University facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
National Taiwan University

國立臺灣大學
Seal of the National Taiwan University
Former names	Taihoku Imperial University
Motto	敦品勵學，愛國愛人 Dūnpǐn Lìxué, àiguó àirén
Motto in English	Integrity, Diligence, Fidelity, Compassion
Type	Public (National)
Established	Founded on March 16, 1928 Reorganized on November 15, 1945
Endowment	$16.9 billion NTD
President	Chen Wen-chang
Academic staff	2,029 (2020–2021)
Administrative staff	6,765 (2020–2021)
Students	32,974 (2020–2021)
Undergraduates	16,773 (2020–2021)
Postgraduates	12,533 (2020–2021)
Doctoral students	3,668 (2020–2021)
Location	Taipei ,  Taiwan 25°00′58″N 121°32′10″E / 25.016°N 121.536°E / 25.016; 121.536
Campus	Urban, 1.6 km2 (0.62 sq mi) (Greater Taipei combined); 344 km2 (133 sq mi) (Nantou County combined)
Colors	Maroon and gold
Affiliations	Harvard-Yenching Institute APRU AEARU ASAIHL AACSB-Accredited EUTW National Taiwan University System Global research & industry alliance (Gloria) of National Science and Technology Council (Taiwan) Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research PACIBER AAPBS EPU Washington University in St. Louis McDonnell International Scholars Academy IEEE Association for Computing Machinery Coursera
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	国立台湾大学
Traditional Chinese	國立臺灣大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Guólì Táiwān Dàxué Bopomofo ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄌㄧˋ ㄊㄞˊ ㄨㄢ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Gwolih Tair'uan Dahshyue Wade–Giles Kuo²-li⁴ T'ai²-wan¹ Ta⁴-hsüeh² Tongyong Pinyin Guólì Táiwan Dàsyué MPS2 Guólì Táiwān Dàshiué Hakka Romanization Koet-li̍p Thòi-vân Thai-ho̍k Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kok-li̍p Tâi-oân Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-lô Kok-li̍p Tâi-uân Tāi-ha̍k
Taihoku Imperial University
Simplified Chinese	台北帝国大学
Traditional Chinese	臺北帝國大學
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Táipěi Dìguó Dàxué Bopomofo ㄊㄞˊ ㄅㄟˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄛˊ ㄉㄚˋ ㄒㄩㄝˊ Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tairbeei Dihgwo Dahshyue Wade–Giles T'ai²-pei³ Ti⁴-kuo² Ta⁴-hsüeh² Tongyong Pinyin Táipěi Dìguó Dàsyué MPS2 Táipěi Dìguó Dàshiué Hakka Romanization Thòi-pet Ti-koet Thai-ho̍k Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k Tâi-lô Tâi-pak Tè-kok Tāi-ha̍k
Alternative Japanese name
Kanji	台北帝国大学
Transcriptions Revised Hepburn Taihoku Teikoku Daigaku

National Taiwan University (NTU) is a famous public university in Taipei, Taiwan. Many people think it's the best university in Taiwan. It's a place where students learn a lot and researchers discover new things.

The university started in 1928 when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. It was first called Taihoku Imperial University. After World War II, in 1945, the government of the Republic of China took over. They changed its name to National Taiwan University.

NTU has 11 colleges, 56 departments, and many research centers. It offers a wide range of subjects for students to study.

Many important people have studied at NTU. Every democratically elected president of Taiwan has graduated from NTU. This includes the current president, Tsai Ing-Wen. Also, famous scientists like Andrew Yao (who won the Turing Award) and Yuan T. Lee (who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry) went to NTU.

Discovering NTU's History

The main administration building at NTU

Let's learn about how National Taiwan University began and grew over the years.

Early Days: Imperial University

National Taiwan University started as Taihoku Imperial University in 1928. This was during the time when Japan ruled Taiwan. It was one of the special "imperial universities" run by Japan.

The first president of the school was Taira Shidehara. When it first opened, it had departments for liberal arts, law, science, and agriculture. Only about 60 students attended at first. Most of these students were Japanese. Not many Taiwanese students were allowed to join back then. Later, in 1935 and 1943, they added departments for medicine and engineering.

Becoming a National University

After World War II, in 1945, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) took charge of the school. They changed its name to National Taiwan University on November 15, 1945. Lo Tsung-lo became the new president.

The school was reorganized into six main colleges: Liberal Arts, Law, Science, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture. There were 22 departments in total. In 1945, about 585 students were enrolled.

Over the years, NTU kept growing. In 1960, they started a night school. New colleges were added, like the College of Management in 1987 and the College of Public Health in 1993. The College of Electrical Engineering was added in 1997, and later became the College of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. In 2002, the College of Agriculture changed its name to the College of Bio-resources and Agriculture, and a College of Life Sciences was also added.

Exploring NTU's Campuses

NTU has a large main campus in Daan District, Taipei City. It also has other campuses in different parts of Taiwan. These include locations in New Taipei City, Hsinchu County, Yunlin County, and Nantou County.

The main campus is where most of the college buildings and offices are located. The university also manages farms, forests, and hospitals. These are used for teaching students and for research.

Here are the five main campuses:

• Main Campus (113 hectares, in Daan District, Taipei)
• Shuiyuan Campus (7.7 hectares, in Zhongzheng District, Taipei)
• College of Medicine Campus (in Zhongzheng District)
• Yunlin Campus (54 hectares, in Yunlin County)
• Zhubei Campus (22 hectares, in Hsinchu County)

Other University Properties

NTU also owns other important properties that help with its education and research:

• Visiting professor residences (34 hectares, on Yangmingshan, Taipei)
• University Farm (19.5 hectares, in Xindian District, New Taipei City)
• Wenshan Botanical Garden (5 hectares, in Shiding District, New Taipei City)
• Highland Experimental Farm (1,019 hectares, in Nantou County)
• Experimental Forest Office (25.9 hectares, in Nantou County)
• Experimental Forest (33,310 hectares, in Nantou County)

What Students Learn at NTU

The original building of the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei

The National Taiwan University Library

NTU has 11 colleges, covering many different subjects. These include Liberal Arts, Engineering, Science, and Medicine. Students can earn bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctorate degrees in many areas.

Most undergraduate students at NTU need to take some required classes. These include Chinese, English, physical education, and public service. Medical students also take classes in philosophy, sociology, and ethics.

NTU offers about 8,000 courses each semester. Students can choose classes from any college. However, they must complete specific courses for their chosen major to earn their degree. Some majors, like medicine, electrical engineering, law, and finance, are very popular and harder to get into. Most degrees take four years to finish, but dental and medical degrees take six years.

NTU is part of several international groups, like the Association of Pacific Rim Universities. This helps students and researchers connect with universities around the world.

How NTU Ranks Globally

Overall University Rankings

National Taiwan University is often seen as the top university in Taiwan. Different groups rank universities around the world. Here's how NTU has been ranked recently:

• It was ranked 68th globally by QS World University Rankings in 2025.
• It was ranked 187th globally by Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2023.
• It was ranked 203rd globally by US News in 2022-2023.

These rankings show that NTU is a highly respected university worldwide.

Rankings for Specific Subjects

NTU is also ranked very high for many specific subjects. In most subject rankings by QS and ARWU, NTU is number one in Taiwan. For example, in the THE Subject Rankings, NTU is ranked first in Taiwan for all subjects. This means it's a great place to study many different fields.

Famous People Who Went to NTU

Many famous people have studied at NTU. These include leaders, scientists, and business people.

All of Taiwan's democratically elected presidents have graduated from NTU. This includes Tsai Ing-Wen, Lee Teng-hui, Chen Shui-bian, and Ma Ying-jeou.

Two very important scientists also went to NTU:

• Yuan T. Lee, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• Andrew Yao, who won the Turing Award (a top prize in computer science).

Many NTU graduates in electrical engineering have started big global companies. These include Barry Lam from Quanta Computer, Tsai Ming-kai from Mediatek, and Min Kao from Garmin.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de Taiwán para niños