Living at home and commuting

Why local students often can't get a dorm

Under the Household Registration Act (戶籍法, art. 16), you may leave your household registration where it is when you move away to study in Taiwan. Many universities use that registration to sort dorm applications. Students from far away come first, and students registered close to campus come last or can't apply. Schools use lists of districts, not kilometres or travel time. Priority groups, such as students with disabilities, low-income students, Indigenous students, students from outlying islands, and international and overseas Chinese students, are placed first.

What these schools' own rules say about local first-year students:

Not every school works this way. In the current rules of National Tsing Hua University, National Central University and National Chung Hsing University, we found no rule based on how far away you are registered; there, registration matters only for outlying-island or mountain-area priority. National Central University says first-years are guaranteed a bed if they want one.

Proof and moving your registration

• Schools that name a document ask for a household registration transcript (戶籍謄本). Where they say more, it must be issued within three months and show the full notes; Tamkang does not accept the household register booklet (戶口名簿).
• Schools look back in time: two years at NTU and NCCU, one year at NTNU, six months at NCKU, Soochow and Tamkang.
• NTNU says a student who moves their registration to rank higher, without really living there, drops to the end of its third tier. After a move it asks for a title deed, a court-notarized lease or proof of actual residence stamped by the village office or police station.

→ Dorms: how to apply, lotteries and priority rules

Monthly passes: TPASS

TPASS (行政院通勤月票) is a government-subsidized 30-day pass loaded on an EasyCard, iPASS or icash card. The Highway Bureau says anyone can buy one: there is no buyer identity restriction and no separate half-price student version. A student card can carry the pass. You must start using it within 30 days of buying it, and it then runs for 30 days in a row.

• The NT$1,200 northern pass covers metro, light rail, TRA, city buses, highway coaches and YouBike (first 30 minutes free, 60 in Taoyuan). On TRA and intercity buses, both ends of the trip must be inside the four cities, or the normal fare is taken from your card.
• Passes that include TRA don't cover Taroko, Puyuma, EMU3000 Tze-Chiang and other designated trains.
• In the north you can buy the next pass in the 10 days before yours ends; it starts the day after the old one expires. Southern passes (Kaohsiung, Tainan, Pingtung, Chiayi) are sold through MeN Go, where you pick the start date.

Good to know: if you ride often but not enough for a pass, TPASS 2.0+ gives cash back to registered cards: 15% for 11 to 30 city bus or highway coach trips a month, 30% for 31 or more, and 2% on TRA, Taipei Metro and New Taipei Metro from 11 trips, capped at NT$2,500 a month. Trips made on a monthly pass don't count. Register at tpass.thb.gov.tw.

Commuting by train

TRA periodic tickets (定期票)

Taiwan Railway sells periodic tickets for people who commute to work or school on a one-way trip of up to 150 km. There is no separate student version.

• 30 days The local-train fare for your trip x 21 days x 2, at 85%.
• 60 days The local-train fare x 42 days x 2, at 80%.
• How it works Loaded on an EasyCard or iPASS-type card. Unlimited rides between your two stations on the train types stated. Tap in and out every time. No seat reservations.
• Buying You can set a start date up to 10 days after you buy. Refund fee NT$31.

Without a pass, a stored-value card works at every station on the main round-island line and the branch lines. Chu-Kuang and local trains charge the local fare; Tze-Chiang charges the local fare for the first 50 km. On reserved-seat trains you ride without a seat.

Going home at weekends: student discounts

• TRA college student discount (大學生優惠): students at a university or college in Taiwan get 50%, 30% or 20% off the full fare on designated reserved-seat trains, for journeys of 50 km or more, while seats last. Riding dates run from August 17, 2026 to August 16, 2027. Look for the "大學生" labels and filter on the TRA website or the 台鐵e訂通 app.
• THSR college student discount: 50%, 25% or 12% off standard-class reserved seats on designated trains. It can't be combined with early bird fares. In June 2026, THSR added 28 extra 50%-off trains for students going home for the summer.
• THSR periodic and multi-ride tickets: periodic tickets give unlimited rides between two stations at 51% off; multi-ride tickets save up to 18%.

Good to know: carry your own physical student ID with this semester's registration stamp. If it has no stamp, also carry a current certificate of enrollment. On both TRA and THSR, riding a student ticket without valid proof means paying the difference plus 50%.

→ Getting around Taiwan: cards, metro, buses, trains and taxis

Metro and buses for commuters

• Student cards: EasyCard and iPASS sell student cards for students over 12 with student status recognized by the Ministry of Education. On Taipei Metro and Kaohsiung Metro, a student card pays the same metro fare as a single-journey ticket. Taichung MRT lists no student fare.
• Taipei: a bus to metro transfer within one hour takes NT$6 off on a student card (NT$8 on an adult card). Stored-value cards paying full fare get 5% to 15% back the next month for 11 or more trips; TPASS trips don't count.
• Taichung: city bus rides up to 10 km are free, and longer ones cost at most NT$10, for Taichung-registered citizens and for students at a school in Taichung, with a registered card.
• Keelung: students with formal student status in Taiwan (本國正式學籍) and an EasyCard student card pay NT$9 per section on city buses (NT$15 on an adult card). The card is valid until September 10 of your graduation year.
• Chiayi City: city electric buses are free with an e-ticket card until December 31, 2026.
• Penghu: students up to university level showing a student ID pay 85% of the full bus fare.
• Everywhere else: the Highway Bureau keeps an official list of every city and county bus site and a highway coach route search.

YouBike for the last stretch

YouBike runs in 14 areas: Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu Science Park, Miaoli, Taichung, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung. One membership works in all of them. You need a Taiwan mobile number, your ID or ARC number, and an EasyCard or iPASS. New members who enter their ID number and date of birth get free injury insurance on their first card.

• Members pay NT$10 per 30 minutes for the first four hours in most areas (NT$12 in Pingtung and Taitung).
• Most local governments pay for the first 30 minutes on YouBike 2.0 (Taoyuan the first 60). Kaohsiung pays NT$5 of it, but students at schools in Kaohsiung with an iPASS digital student ID or Kaohsiung student card ride the first 30 minutes free. In Tainan, members using a Tainan Citizen Card (臺南市市民卡) pay half price on 2.0 until December 31, 2026.
• A TPASS adds a free first 30 minutes in Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung.
• In Taipei, New Taipei and Taoyuan, the 2.0E e-bike has no subsidy and no TPASS benefit.

→ Cycle.tw's YouBike page covers renting, insurance and prices by city, and its bike parking and theft page covers where to lock up your own bike.

Commuting by scooter

To ride a scooter you need a valid licence. Riding a scooter without one is fined NT$18,000 to NT$36,000, and the scooter is impounded on the spot. An owner who lends a scooter to someone without a licence can also be fined, unless they took due care to check.

• Age 18 for an ordinary light (50 cc or less) or ordinary heavy (over 50 cc up to 250 cc) scooter licence.
• Tests A written test and a road test, NT$250. NT$200 to collect the licence. A retest must be at least 7 days later.
• Before the test A free two-hour safety course for first-time scooter applicants, and the motorcycle hazard perception platform (機車危險感知教育平臺) before you book. You need a registration form with a medical check and three one-inch photos.
• Written test 50 questions, pass mark 85, including 5 hazard perception videos.

• Riders and passengers must wear helmets. No helmet: NT$500, charged to the rider.
• Every scooter must have compulsory liability insurance. Without it: NT$1,500 to NT$3,000.
• Where the inner lane is marked no motorcycles, scooters must turn left in two stages.

→ Prepare.one has unofficial scooter licence written test practice, in English and Chinese.

Being part of campus life

Going home every day doesn't have to mean only coming in for class. Most universities have student clubs (社團), and you join through a club fair at the start of the semester.

• NTU says it has more than 400 clubs in eight categories. Its fall 2026 Club Expo was on September 12, and it holds another club fair each spring during the Azalea Festival.
• National Chung Hsing University says it has 123 clubs.
• Tamkang's fall 2025 club fair had 97 clubs, and Tamkang says it has offered a credit course for club participation since 2011.

→ Making friends: clubs, buddy programs and campus events

Your city in more detail

The city guides cover local routes, cards and fares:

• Taipei and New Taipei: Inside Taipei, getting around Taipei
• Hsinchu: Inside Hsinchu, getting around Hsinchu and Zhubei and trains in Hsinchu
• Taichung: Inside Taichung, getting around Taichung
• Tainan: Inside Tainan, getting around Tainan
• Kaohsiung: Inside Kaohsiung, getting around Kaohsiung
• Yilan: Inside Yilan, getting to and around Yilan
• Hualien: Inside Hualien, getting to and around Hualien

→ University cities and counties

Questions

My family lives in Taipei. Can I get a dorm at a Taipei university?

At several schools, not in the normal way. NTU only lets students apply if they were not registered in Taipei City or 17 named New Taipei districts in the two years before the deadline, unless they belong to a priority group or have a special need. NCCU, Taipei Tech, Soochow and Chinese Culture also shut out students registered in Taipei and parts of New Taipei. Other schools rank by distance instead. Check your school's own rules.

Can I move my household registration to get a dorm?

Schools look back: NTU and NCCU count the last two years, NCKU, Soochow and Tamkang six months. NTNU says a student who moves their registration for a dorm without really living there drops to the end of its lowest tier, and asks for proof of actual residence after a move. The law lets you leave your registration at home while you study.

Is there a student monthly pass?

No. The Highway Bureau says anyone can buy a TPASS monthly pass and there is no separate half-price student version. A student card can carry the pass.

Is there a discount for taking the train home at weekends?

Students at universities and colleges in Taiwan can buy TRA tickets at 50%, 30% or 20% off on designated reserved-seat trains for trips of 50 km or more, and THSR tickets at 50%, 25% or 12% off on designated trains. Seats are limited and you must carry your own student ID.

→ Getting around Taiwan · Arrive and live

Sources (56)

Checked November 2026.Show

Dorm rules: Household Registration Act, NTU, NCCU, NTNU, Taipei Tech, NCKU, NCKU new students, NSYSU, NCU, Soochow, Chinese Culture, Tamkang, Tamkang (documents), Feng Chia, Kaohsiung Medical, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology. TPASS: Highway Bureau price chart, Highway Bureau FAQ, TPASS 2.0+ rebate, Megacity Pass, central passes, MeN Go. Trains: TRA periodic tickets, TRA e-tickets, TRA college student rules, THSR college student discount, THSR summer trains, THSR fare rules. Metro and buses: Taipei Metro, ticket types, Taipei Metro, frequent riders, EasyCard, Taichung MRT, Kaohsiung Metro, student iPASS, Taichung citizen card, Keelung bus fares, Chiayi City buses, Penghu bus rules. YouBike: rates by area, Kaohsiung, Tainan, registration, insurance, FAQ. Scooters: Road Traffic Safety Rules, Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act, art. 21, art. 31, Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance Act, Highway Bureau, motorcycle tests, Highway Bureau, motorcycle test (English), hazard perception questions. Clubs: NTU, NTU orientation, NTU spring club fair, NCHU, Tamkang club fair, Tamkang club course.