A university or tertiary college being renamed shall meet the following criteria:
1. An independent college that is applying to be renamed an ordinary university or an institute of technology that is applying to be renamed a university of science and technology shall meet the following criteria:
(1) It has had excellent educational results and has tangible evidence of its performance.
(2) Administration of the independent college’s recruiting and enrolment, student status, personnel affairs, accounting, finance, courses, and computerization of administrative matters are all functioning normally, and it has established a soundly operating institutional system, and the MOE does not have any instance of major administrative error or negligence on record.
(3) It shall be operating in compliance with MOE policy goals and associated regulations.
(4) For a private independent college, its board of directors’ registration as a legal person, updates made and operations are normal, and it has established a soundly operating institutional system.
2. When the educational institution in question is operating in compliance with the previous subparagraph and the special circumstances set out below pertain, an institute of technology may be renamed an ordinary university, and vice versa; an independent college may be renamed a university of science and technology, and vice versa; an institute of technology may be renamed an independent college, and vice versa; and an ordinary university may be renamed a university of science and technology, and vice versa.
(1) Education policy and national requirements.
(2) It is considered a definite necessity following an MOE examination and consideration of the current distribution of universities in each region.
(3) The municipality or county (city) where the educational institution applying to be renamed is located does not have an ordinary university, a university of science and technology, or an independent college, or institute of technology in the same educational institution name category as the proposed name.

The MOE shall accept applications to be renamed from independent colleges, institutes of technology, universities of science and technology, and ordinary universities and, in principle, process such applications once each year.
The MOE procedures governing accepting an application for a name change and its approval are as follows:
1. If the proposed name change is in compliance with the requirements stipulated in the previous article the educational institution may draw up a name change proposal; after the proposal has been reviewed and given due deliberation by the university (college) council, and in the case of a private educational institution after the proposal has also been approved by its board of directors, an application with the name change proposal, minutes of the meetings at which it was deliberated, and basic information indicating compliance with the requirements set out in the subparagraphs of the previous article with associated forms attached shall be submitted to the MOE before the designated deadline for the current year.
2. The MOE may form a case review panel to conduct the review. The review is divided into two stages, a preliminary review and a follow-up review; the materials provided by the educational institution are examined at the preliminary review stage.
3. If a college or university passes the preliminary review, the MOE shall conduct an on-site inspection, and then, depending on the results of the on-site inspection, may convene a follow-up review meeting to discuss the case and make specific recommendations regarding the institution's future plans and long-term development. If the college or university passes the follow-up review, it will be given approval to be renamed.
A private educational institution that has received approval from the MOE to be renamed shall undertake an update of the registration of its school endowment corporation.
If an independent college, an institute of technology, a university of science and technology, or an ordinary university applies to change its name and the MOE reviews the application and does not give its approval, that educational institution is not permitted to reapply to change its name within a year from the date following the day on which it receives written notification of the result of its initial application.
The provisions of the previous paragraph do not apply to an educational institution that had not been given MOE approval to change its name following a review and had reapplied in the subsequent year, before the amendments to these Regulations came into effect on October 31, 2019.

A junior college or institution of higher education may apply to change its name in order to meet its development requirements; the provisions of the previous article apply, mutatis mutandis, to the application procedure and related matters.

The new name of a junior college or institution of higher education that is applying to change its name shall be in compliance with the following provisions:
1. The name of a junior college or institution of higher education shall clearly indicate its category and level. The name of a public junior college or institution of higher education shall begin with the word “national”, “municipal”, "county", or "city”, as appropriate. The name of a private junior college or institution of higher education shall begin with the name of its school endowment corporation, and it is not permitted to only use the name of the city, county, municipality, or higher level administrative district in which it is located as its name.
2. When the name of a private junior college or institution of higher education consists of the name of the administrative district and another embellishing component, the embellishing component may possess historical significance, be a commemorative meaning, be a phrase that by convention must be used in full, or reflect some other feature of the institution. But such a name component is not permitted to reflect the academic category of the institution.
3. If two or more educational institutions of the same level in the same district are in the same category or a similar one, if the name proposed for one of them is too similar to that of any other, one or more words sufficient to clearly distinguish its name shall be added.
4. A junior college or institution of higher education is not permitted to use a name with any of the following features:
(1) The name is identical to or closely resembles that of a well-known domestic or international organization. This restriction does not apply, however, if the organization's written consent has been obtained.
(2) A name identical to or closely resembling a name already being used by another educational institution of the same level.

A junior college applying to change its institutional status to become an institute of technology shall meet the following criteria:
1. The junior college has had excellent educational results and has tangible evidence of its performance.
2. The administration of the junior college’s recruiting and enrolment, student status, personnel affairs, accounting, finance, courses, and computerization of administrative matters is functioning normally, and the junior college has established a soundly operating institutional system, and the MOE does not have any instance of major administrative error or negligence on record.
3. The junior college has been operating in compliance with MOE policy goals and associated regulations.
4. For a private junior college, its board of directors, registration as a legal person, updates made and operations are normal, and it has established a soundly operating institutional system.
A skills-based senior high school that changes its institutional status to become a junior college is not permitted to change its institutional status to become an institute of technology.

The process for any junior college changing its institutional status to become an institute of technology, or any junior college changing its institutional status to become an institute of technology with an affiliated junior college division, in principle, is only handled once each year. The base date for data calculations for all reviews of basic criteria is February 1 each year.
The MOE procedures governing accepting an application for a change of institutional status and its approval are as follows:
1. A junior college that meets the criteria for changing its institutional status set out in the previous article may draw up a change of institutional status plan; after the plan has been reviewed and given due deliberation by the junior college’s governing board, and in the case of a private junior college after the plan has also received mandatory approval from its board of directors, the junior college shall submit an application to the MOE before the designated deadline for the current year with its change of institutional status plan, minutes of the meetings at which it was deliberated, basic information indicating compliance with the requirements set out in the subparagraphs of the previous article, and associated forms attached.
2. The MOE may form a case review panel to conduct the review. The review is divided into two stages, a preliminary review and a follow-up review; the documents submitted by each junior college are reviewed at the preliminary review stage.
3. If a junior college passes the preliminary review, the MOE shall undertake an on-site inspection, and then, depending on the results of the on-site inspection, may convene a follow-up review meeting to discuss the case, and make specific recommendations regarding the junior college's future plans and long-term development. A junior college that has passed the follow-up review will be given approval to change its institutional status.
A private educational institution that has received approval from the MOE to change its institutional status shall undertake an update of the registration of its school endowment corporation.

A junior college that changes its institutional status to become an institute of technology, or a junior college that changes its institutional status to become an institute of technology with an affiliated junior college division shall set up departments (subjects, sections), graduate institutes, and degree programs in accordance with the following provisions:
1. The institute of technology shall establish three or more departments during the first year after approval of its change of institutional status. In principle, these departments will offer subjects that the former junior college taught, and achieved excellent results for, and that there are sufficient qualified teachers to teach; in principle, the institute of technology will also add two-year technical (academic) program departments and in-service programs in a continuing education department.
2. From the second year after its change of institutional status was approved, the institute of technology may, in conjunction with its developmental needs, set up additional departments and/or subjects and make adjustments to current departments and subject, and from the fifth year it may add graduate institutes. Each educational institution shall undertake setting up any additional departments (subjects, sections), graduate institutes, and degree programs or any adjustments to the current ones in accordance with review principles, regulations, and procedures governing any such additions or adjustments in that year.

After considering the economic, educational, demographic, transportation, cultural, and resource circumstances of a county or municipality that does not provide junior college education, the MOE may select a public skills-based senior high school that meets the following criteria and eligibility conditions, or it may amalgamate several such schools, and change the institutional status of the original school or the amalgamated schools to that of a junior college and set up an affiliated skills-based senior high school division there:
1. The daytime division of the school has a total of at least 40 classes.
2. The average enrollment rate in the most recent three years was at least 85%.
3. The skills-based senior high school’s site, school buildings, and teaching equipment and facilities: these are all in accordance with the provisions of Article 7.
4. Courses: Courses shall be set up in compliance with the following principles:
(1) Courses shall be in compliance with overall national development needs and be linked with local commercial and industry development needs.
(2) Courses shall extend provision of education with a practical orientation and match the junior college’s specific developmental focus.
(3) Appropriate related practical training shall be arranged designed to help meet the objectives of each subject area, and specific practical training plans shall be compiled. Practical training plans shall include the training courses, training modes, number of training hours, and qualifications of the teachers involved.
5. Change of institutional status plan: The school shall provide specific accurate details of its current situation, and a rational and complete plan setting out how it will achieve the standards required to change its institutional status and the demands it would face following such a change, and draw up a feasible implementation plan.

The provisions of Articles 7 and 21 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, when dealing with the site, buildings, equipment and facilities, teaching staff, establishment capital and funds, and the application and review procedures for the change of institutional status of an institute of technology that was formerly a junior college that is reverting back to being a junior college, or of a university of science and technology that was formerly called an institute of technology that will become a junior college.
Changing the institutional status of a junior college to make it a skills-based senior high school shall be handled, mutatis mutandis, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 4 and 6 of the Senior High School Education Act pertaining to applying to establish such a school following a change of institutional status.
When teachers at a junior college that has changed its institutional status and become a skills-based senior high school who do not have a secondary school teaching certificate continue to hold a teaching position there, the MOE may arrange for a teacher training university to offer pre-service teacher education courses on a case by case basis within six years after the change of institutional status to provide such teachers opportunities for further training.
Teachers at a junior college that has changed its institutional status to become a skills-based senior high school such as referred to in the previous paragraph who have completed the teacher pre-service education courses prescribed in the Teacher Education Act and have been employed teaching at the junior college for two years may be exempt from the requirement to undertake an education practicum prescribed by the Teacher Education Act, and they shall be issued a secondary school teaching certificate by the MOE after they pass the teacher qualifications test.

If any one of the circumstances listed below apply to an institute of technology that was formerly a junior college, or to a university of science and technology that was formerly called an institute of technology, the MOE may issue an order requiring the educational institution to change its institutional status to become a junior college, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7-2 of the Junior College Law. The provisions of Articles 7 shall apply, mutatis mutandis, when dealing with the site, buildings, equipment and facilities, teaching staff, establishment capital and funds.
1. If the total number of students is less than 3,000, and the new student registration rate is less than fifty percent in the two most recent years.
2. If a rating of tier three or lower was achieved in the vocational and technological college and university accreditations on two consecutive occasions (a concession pass or a failure), or if a rating of tier three or lower was achieved in the most recent institutional accreditation (at least three-quarters of the programs failed to pass).
3. If major administrative errors or negligence were recorded by the MOE for two consecutive academic years, or if two or more major administrative errors or negligence were recorded by the MOE within the same academic year.
4. If financial forecasts indicate that within one year the educational institution will be unable to cover its expenses or face financial difficulties.
If any one of the circumstances listed below apply to a junior college that was formerly a skills-based senior high school, the MOE may issue an order requiring the junior college to undergo change of institutional status and become a skills-based senior high school, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7, Paragraph 4 of the Junior College Law, with the provisions of Paragraph 2 of the same article applying, mutatis mutandis; the provisions of Articles 4 and 6 of the Senior High School Education Act that apply to applications for the establishment of schools shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to an educational institution after it has undergone such a change of institutional status:
1. If the total number of students is less than 1,800, and the new student registration rate is less than fifty percent in the two most recent years.
2. If any one of the circumstances listed in Subparagraphs 2 to 4 of the previous paragraph apply.

An educational institution that has been ordered to change its institutional status by the MOE in accordance with the provisions of the previous article shall within three months draw up a change of institutional status plan; after the plan has been reviewed and given due deliberation by the educational institution’s governing board, and in the case of a private educational institution after the plan has also received mandatory approval from its board of directors, the educational institution shall submit the change of institutional status plan, minutes of the meeting at which it was deliberated, and related information to the MOE for ratification.
The change of institutional status plan referred to in the previous paragraph shall include the following items:
1. The reason for the change of institutional status.
2. Departmental adjustments, course planning, and mid-term and long-term development plans after the change of institutional status.
3. Plans for how the educational institution’s facilities, equipment, files, documents, and information will be dealt with.
4. Plans and measures for how the current teaching and other staff will be dealt with.
5. Measures to assist the support and transfer of current students.
6. Plans for other matters pertaining to the change of institutional status.
The procedure for the MOE to review the change of institutional status matters referred to in the previous article is as follows:
1. An expert assessment panel may be formed to carry out an on-site inspection and assessment and to review the change of institutional status plan, the minutes of the meetings at which it was deliberated, and related information that were submitted by the educational institution. An educational institution that passes that review process shall then be reviewed in accordance with the provisions of Article 3.
2. An educational institution that has passed the Review Committee review referred to in the previous subparagraph shall be given approval by the MOE to change its institutional status.

A junior college or institution of higher education may, after taking into due consideration its resources, circumstances, and development focus, select an appropriate amalgamation counterpart and implement an amalgamation plan.
After weighing and considering current higher education development trends, the distribution of junior colleges and institutions of higher education, and the allocation of educational resources, the MOE may recommend that institutions of higher education implement an amalgamation plan, and assist them to do so.

Public junior colleges or institutions of higher education planning an amalgamation shall draw up an amalgamation plan. An amalgamation plan for national junior colleges or institutions of higher education shall be submitted to the MOE for ratification after it has been approved by the respective university council or junior college governing board. An amalgamation plan for municipal, county, or city junior colleges or institutions of higher education shall be submitted to the MOE for ratification after it has been approved by the respective university council or junior college governing board and by their local government.
For an amalgamation between private junior colleges or institutions of higher education, the school endowment corporation of each of the institutions shall draw up an amalgamation plan and an amalgamation agreement addressing the amalgamation related matters, and submit balance sheets and property inventory audited and certified by a certified public accountant; the amalgamation plan shall be submitted to the MOE for ratification after it has been approved by the respective university (college) councils and boards of directors. There is, however, no need to draw up an amalgamation agreement if the amalgamation is between private educational institutions of the same or different levels established by the same school endowment corporation.
The amalgamation plan referred to in Paragraph 2 shall give explicit details of the following:
1. The origin of the amalgamation plan.
2. An analysis of the current situation of each of the educational institutions involved in the proposed amalgamation and any associated problems.
3. The amalgamation plan procedures.
4. An amalgamation schedule and a list of associated matters that will require being attended to.
5. The contents of the plan: including envisaged growth; the plan for each campus; designated uses of campus buildings and open spaces and any planned changes to these; the organizational structure of the administration, the number of administrative personnel and their deployment; the academic organizational structure, and configuration of subjects, departments, and graduate institutes; and a financial plan.
6. The handling of the rights and interests of the teaching staff, other staff, and students of the amalgamating institutions, and the associated remedy procedures.
7. The drawing up of the by-laws governing matters regarding the selection of the president of the educational institution resulting from the amalgamation and other important matters...
8. Expected benefits.
9. Other relevant measures.

Junior colleges and institutions of higher education shall complete the formulation or revision of their organizational charter and regulations within one year after the MOE approves an amalgamation.
A junior college or institution of higher education newly-formed through an amalgamation shall have one person appointed as president. As is the case for the president of a newly-established junior college or institution of higher education, this first president shall be appointed in accordance with the provisions of Article 16 of the Junior College Act or Article 10 of the University Act, as applicable.

The MOE may, taking into account the national overall resources situation, provide priority funding for the amalgamation of a number of junior colleges or of institutions of higher education.

If junior colleges or institutions of higher education have not implemented an amalgamation in accordance with their amalgamation plan, taking into account the circumstances, the MOE may reduce funding support and/or adjust their student admission quotas.