Taiwan's Ministry of Education (MOE) held the "Career Wings, Employment Launch" ceremony on June 11 to celebrate the graduation of the first cohort of students from the International Industrial Talents Education Special Program (INTENSE Program). A total of 491 international students completed their studies this year and will join 107 partner companies — including ASE Technology, Micron Memory Taiwan, and CECI Engineering — to begin their careers in Taiwan, achieving a 100% local employment rate.
The INTENSE Program is a key strategy under MOE's mid-term plan to attract international students to study and work in Taiwan. Launched in the 2024 academic year (Taiwan's 113th academic year), it is jointly run by MOE, the National Development Council, the National Development Fund, Executive Yuan, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Under the program, partner schools and companies co-design customized curricula. The National Development Fund covers up to two years of tuition and fees, while partner companies provide each student a monthly living stipend of at least NT$10,000 (around NT$240,000 over two years), allowing students to focus on their studies without financial worry.
MOE Minister Cheng Ying-yao said in his remarks that talent has become a key factor in national competitiveness amid global talent mobility and industry trends. He noted that the program combines professional training, Mandarin language learning, corporate internships, and a post-graduation employment mechanism to help international students transition smoothly into the workforce. Since its launch, the program has trained 915 students across the 2024 and 2025 academic years, with growing numbers of applicants and partner companies.
This year's 491 graduates came from 69 program classes across 26 universities and colleges, with students hailing from Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, India, Japan, and Malaysia. Among the graduates, 440 will enter STEM-related industries, 46 will join the semiconductor sector, and 5 will work in finance.
Of the 107 partner companies, six that trained the largest number of students — together accounting for more than a third of this year's graduating class — received an award recognizing their contribution to talent cultivation (育才夥伴獎). Several graduates also received recognition for exceeding the program's Mandarin proficiency requirements (華語文能力成就獎), reaching Test of Chinese as a Foreign Language (TOCFL) Level B1 or even B2 ahead of graduation.
The ceremony was attended by representatives from the National Development Council, the Ministry of Labor, and the Taipei-based offices of Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and India, along with nearly 200 family members of graduates who traveled to Taiwan for the occasion. MOE said it will continue deepening international education cooperation and industry-academia partnerships, aiming to make Taiwan not just a place to study, but a stage for talent to grow, develop, and realize their dreams.