On April 1, 2026, HEEACT convened the third session of its Higher Education Quality Assurance Forum under the theme "Internationalization Strategies Viewed Through University Institutional Accreditation." Launched in August 2024, the forum series brings stakeholders together around pressing questions facing Taiwan's higher education sector and builds shared ground for improving quality.

Internationalization sits at the center of how Taiwan connects with the world. With declining birth rates reshaping enrollment and global higher education growing more competitive, universities face a sharper question than before: how do we cultivate graduates who can compete internationally while responding to the needs of Taiwan's society and industries? Policy direction that links academic development with industrial strategy has become part of the answer, and institutional accreditation offers one of the clearest windows into how well universities are delivering on it.

HEEACT President Dr. Der-Tsai Lee chaired the session. Executive Director Dr. Kuang-Chao Yu opened the discussion by drawing on data from the third-cycle institutional accreditation to map the current state of internationalization across Taiwan's universities. Two speakers followed. President Dr. Tsai-Yen Lee of National Chengchi University shared how a leading public university approaches internationalization in practice, including the structural and cultural shifts it demands. Deputy Director-General Hsin-Yuan Tseng of the Ministry of Education's Department of Higher Education set out the policy landscape, the trends shaping it, and the challenges universities should prepare for.

The conversation gave university leaders, faculty, and QA professionals concrete reference points for shaping their own internationalization strategies, grounded in what accreditation data actually shows rather than aspirational rhetoric.