National Taiwan Normal University

National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU; Chinese: 國立臺灣師範大學; pinyin: Guólì Táiwān Shīfàn Dàxué) is a national public research university with its main campus in Taipei, Taiwan. Founded in 1922 during Japanese rule as the Taihoku Higher School, it was the first teachers' college in Taiwan.

The university has three campuses across Taipei and New Taipei City. It consists of ten academic colleges, 13 research centers, and 67 academic departments, and operates an affiliated senior high school. As of 2025, it has a total of more than 8,000 undergraduate students and 7,000 graduate students. Over 1,600 students at NTNU are international and over 1,000 students are overseas Chinese in preparatory programs. The university hosts the Mandarin Training Center (MTC), the oldest and largest Chinese-language teaching institution in the country, and administers the Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL), the country's primary Chinese-language examination for non-native speakers.

NTNU is affiliated with National Taiwan University and the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology as part of the National Taiwan University System, formed in 2015. The Research Center for Psychological and Educational Testing (RCPET) at NTNU is responsible for organizing Taiwan's annual Comprehensive Assessment Program for Junior High School Students (CAP). NTNU is also the convening institution for the Committee of College Admission Practical Examination, which is responsible for conducting practical examinations in the fields of fine arts, music, and physical education for use in university admissions across Taiwan.

History

National Taiwan Normal University opened its doors in the early 20th century during Japanese rule in Taiwan. Taiwan's Japanese governors established the school as Taiwan Provincial College. Soon after they gave it the name Taihoku College (Taihoku is "Taipei" in Japanese). The school's purpose was to nurture a native educated class qualified to assist the government in matters of administration. Many buildings on the university's main campus date from the Japanese colonial period, including the Administration Building, the Lecture Hall, Wenhui Hall and Puzi Hall. Japanese architects incorporated features of the Neo-Classical, Gothic and Gothic Revival styles often encountered on European university campuses. A room in the Lecture Hall housed the traditional Japanese document that authorizes and formalizes campus construction.

In the 1940s, the university, along with National Taiwan University, Taiwan Provincial College of Agriculture, and Taiwan Provincial College of Engineering, were the only four higher education institutions in Taiwan.

Some school publications still display 1946 as the institution's founding date in reference to this regime change. A number of Taiwan's leading authors, poets, artists, educators, painters, musicians, linguists, sinologists, philologists, philosophers, and researchers have passed through the university's doors as students and faculty. In 1956 the Mandarin Training Center opened its doors as an extension of the college. The school acquired its present name, National Taiwan Normal University, in 1967. By now the school had established itself as a recognized center of learning in arts, literature and the humanities; its fundamental mission, though, remained the preparation of teachers.

As Taiwanese society made its shift from authoritarian rule to democracy in the 1990s, the university saw its role transformed by passage of the 1994 Teacher Preparation Law. The law gave more schools responsibility for teacher training and set NTNU on its present course as a truly comprehensive university. New departments were created, course offerings and majors were expanded, and new faculty were hired. the merger of NTNU with the University Preparatory School for Overseas Chinese Students in 2006. NTNU is the university in Taiwan with the largest number of foreign students. The university became a hub of international activity, enabling Taiwanese students to travel abroad, attracting international students to Taipei, and building exchange programs with hundreds of sister institutions around the world.

Campus

NTNU's main campus is located in the heart of Taipei, adjacent to the culturally rich and artistic atmosphere of the Yongkang Street Area, and within walking distance are famous attractions such as Daan Forest Park, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taipei Grand Mosque, Mongolian & Tibetan Cultural Center, etc. Universities affiliated with the NTU System, such as National Taiwan University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, are also nearby. The university also has campuses in the Wenshan District of Taipei (Gongguan Campus) and in the Linkou District of New Taipei (Linkou Campus), as well as standalone buildings scattered off-campus. Examples include the Yunhe Teaching Building, Qingtian Teaching Building, and the School of Teacher Education Building.

Due to the merger with the National University of Preparatory School for Overseas Chinese Students (NUPS), NTNU also inherited some land from the original Luzhou Campus in New Taipei City. It is adjacent to the National Open University.The campus is also home to several special sculpture installations, including the "Liberty Bell," which was the spiritual symbol of the Taihoku College, and a Tai Chi statue presented by Peking University in honor of NTNU's promotion of Tai Chi. NTNU obtained the sole license from the Louvre Museum in 1987 and purchased a batch of officially copyrighted original plaster replica statues.

NTNU possesses several Taipei City-designated historic sites, including the Original Buildings of Taihoku High School, the residence of Liu Chen, the residence of Liang Shih-chiu, and more.

NTNU Library has branches on all three campuses. The main library has established the Gao Xingjian Center.

Culture

The NTNU emblem consists of a circle formed by six wooden bells, symbolizing collective progress and collaborative efforts to achieve "perfection" in education. The colors represent the blue sky and daylight, signifying the fairness and straightforwardness of the educators.

The official school tree of NTNU is the Cassia fistula, chosen because its appearance resembles the traditional teaching whip from ancient times.

Due to the similar pronunciation between the Chinese character "師" (normal) in the school's name and "獅" (lion), the mascot of the school is also a lion named "Da Shi Xiong". In addition to numerous lion-themed memorabilia, the campus features several lion-related sculptures.

University structure

Source:

Academic programs at NTNU are administered by 10 colleges: arts, education, international studies & social sciences, liberal arts, management, musicology, science, sports & recreation, technology & engineering and interdisciplinary industry academia innovation.

As of November 2022 the school published the following figures for students enrolled and employees retained.

• Students enrolled: 15,112
• Undergraduate students: 8,394 (944 international students)
• Graduate students: 5,686 (682 international students)
• Overseas Chinese Students in Preparatory Programs: 1,032
• Faculty: 1,541

College of Education

NTNU's College of Education is the oldest and largest education college in Taiwan. The college collaborates with Tohoku University, Korea University, National Chengchi University, and Nanjing Normal University to offer the Asian Educational Leadership Program (AEL). This course is to nurture internationally minded educational professionals.

• Department of Adult & Continuing Education
• Department of Child and Family Science
• Department of Civic Education and Leadership
• Department of Education
• Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling
• Department of Health Promotion and Health Education
• Department of Special Education
• Graduate Institute of Curriculum and Instruction
• Graduate Institute of Educational Policy and Administration
• Graduate Institute of Rehabilitation Counseling
• In-service Master program of Creativity Development
• Transdisciplinary Program in College of Education

School of Learning Informatics

• Program of Learning Sciences
• Graduate Institute of Information & Computer Education
• Graduate Institute of Library & Information Studies

College of Liberal Arts

• Department of Chinese
• Department of English
• Department of Geography
• Department of History
• Department of Taiwan Culture, Languages and Literature
• Graduate Institute of Taiwan History
• Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation

College of Science

• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Computer Science & Information Engineering
• Department of Earth Sciences
• Department of Mathematics
• Department of Physics
• Graduate Institute of Sustainability Management and Environmental Education
• Graduate Institute of Marine Environmental Science & Technology
• Graduate Institute of Science Education

School of Life Science

• Department of Life Science
• Undergraduate Program of Nutrition Science
• Graduate Program of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industries
• Graduate Program of Nutrition Science
• Graduate Program of TIGP Biodiversity (Academia Sinica)

College of Arts

NTNU's College of Arts is the most ancient higher education institution for fine arts in Taiwan, and the birthplace of artistic development in Taiwan.

International relations

NTNU has established strategic pationships with The University of Texas at Austin, Purdue University, The University of British Columbia, The University of Queensland, Kuushu University, Osaka University, Hanyang University, University of Glasgow, University of Bordeaux and Goethe University Frankfurt. NTNU also has a long cooperative relationship with Pennsylvania State University, dating back to 1953. At that time, NTNU received support from USAID with the assistance of Pennsylvania State University.

Mandarin Chinese Training

NTNU is best known for its Mandarin Training Center (formerly known as the Center for Chinese Language and Cultural Studies), a program founded in 1956 for the study of Mandarin Chinese to foreign students. The Mandarin Training Center represents one of the world's oldest and most distinguished programs for language study, attracting more than a thousand students from over sixty countries to Taiwan each year and making the Shida area of Taipei one of the city's most cosmopolitan. Courses in language, literature, calligraphy, art and martial arts are offered in a series of three-month terms throughout the year, enabling international students to undertake language studies during summer breaks and within single semesters. The center also sponsors travel, hosts speech contests, and stages workshops and performances for a variety of East Asian arts. A Mandarin Training Center Alumni Association (MTCAA) has been operating since 1998.

The Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) is administered by the Steering Committee for the Test Of Proficiency-Huayu (SC-TOP) at NTNU. NTNU signed the Taiwan Huayu BEST Program partnership with Pennsylvania State University, University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Los Angeles, University of Maryland, Purdue University, University of Guam and SOAS University of London.

International Cooperation and Programs

NTNU signed the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Reorienting Education towards Sustainability of UNESCO in 2018. In 2020, NTNU joined a new-launched network named the International Network of Teacher Education Institutions (INTEI) and a new ESD for 2030 Framework.

NTNU has organized International Science Olympiads in various fields, including Informatics, Earth Science, Biology, and Chemistry. The International Chemistry Olympiad will be hosted by NTNU again in 2027.

NTNU also participates in the Biodiversity Program of the Taiwan International Graduate Program of Academia Sinica. NTNU (National Taiwan Normal University) also collaborates with the Fulbright Program, providing opportunities for American students to pursue master's and doctoral studies in Taiwan.

Ranking and reputation

The predecessor of NTNU was the Taihoku Higher School under the Government-General of Taiwan (Taihoku Higher School). The school served as the sole pathway for Taiwanese students during the Japanese colonial era to enter universities for further studies. In the 1940s, this university was also one of the only four higher education institutions in Taiwan Province. As a result, admission competition was extremely intense.

NTNU has long been recognized as one of Taiwan’s elite institutions of higher education, especially in the field of humanities and social sciences. NTNU is also the best university within Taiwan's normal university system. While Taiwan has other normal and education universities, this is the only university commonly referred to as "Shi Dà” (師大, normal university). Its affiliated high school is also known as “Shi Dà Fù Zhōng" (師大附中, HSNU).

Due to NTNU's excellent development in language education and internationalization, it has been chosen by the Ministry of Education as one of Taiwan's four landmark bilingual universities.

Subject Rankings

U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities subject rankings:

Education and Educational Research: 9th (Asia's second)

Times Higher Education World University Rankings by subject:

Education: 15 (Asia's second)

QS World University Rankings by Subject:

• Education & Training: 24
• Linguistics: 90
• Modern Languages: 93
• Library & Information Management: 51-100
• Classics & Ancient History: 51-100
• Petroleum Engineering: 51-100
• Sports-Related Subjects: 101-150
• English Language & Literature: 151-200
• Sociology: 151-200
• Arts & Humanities: 207
• Psychology: 201-250

The number of disciplines at NTNU that have entered the global top 100 ranks second in Taiwan.

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) of Academic Subjects:

Education: 39 (Asia's third)

Global Views Monthly Taiwan's Best University Rankings:

Universities focusing on humanities and social sciences: 1st

Sustainable development

NTNU is the second institution in Asia to receive the Gold rating in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), established by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). According to QS World University Rankings (Sustainability 2023), NTNU is ranked 3rd in Taiwan and around 50th globally in Sustainable Institutions and 100th in education influence.

NTNU serves as an important consulting and project implementation institution for the Environmental Protection Administration, the Forestry Bureau, and the Ministry of Education in promoting environmental education, sustainable development, and sustainable development goals.His Highness Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al Nuaimi of Ajman (Green Sheikh), United Arab Emirates, visited NTNU on 2025. NTNU also collaborated with Prudential to publish the White Paper on Climate Change and Health Adaptation.

Alumni

The NTNU Alumni Association was founded in 1950 as the Graduate Guidance Committee. It was officially renamed the NTNU Alumni Center in 2020. Its stated mission is "Connect with alumni, converge the alumni and the university, and contribute more resources to support the sustainable development of the university."

Currently, NTNU has 12 alumni chapters across various counties and cities in Taiwan. Internationally, there are 21 alumni chapters located in North America (such as Washington, California, Texas, New England, the East Coast, the Midwest, Eastern Canada, and British Columbia), Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and other regions. Additionally, each college and department has its own alumni association.

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