For parents

What changes for your child

• Adulthood Taiwan's Civil Code makes a person an adult at 18 (art. 12). Parents are the legal representatives of children under 18 (art. 1086).
• Their records Senior high learning portfolios (學習歷程檔案) go to universities only with the student's own consent and selection. Five years after senior high, the student, not the parent, may ask for the data to be deleted.
• Counselling University counsellors must keep what they learn confidential, except where a law says otherwise or in an emergency (Student Counseling Act, art. 17).

Day to day, your child will deal with the school, the bank and the landlord themselves. These guides show what that looks like: → Daily life → Commuting from home

If your child is hurt or ill

Health insurance

• Local students are covered by National Health Insurance (NHI, 全民健康保險) through their household.
• International students must show medical and injury insurance valid for at least six months from entry when they register, or buy the school's group plan. They join NHI after six months of residence with a resident certificate (ARC), enrolled through the school. Insurance bought abroad must be verified by a Taiwan (ROC) mission.
• NTU, as one example, enrols international degree students in a group medical plan before NHI starts, TWD 3,000 for six months, and puts student accident insurance of NTD 249 to 269 a semester in the tuition bill.

→ Health insurance for international students

What a visit costs with NHI

With an NHI card, your child pays a fixed copayment that rises with the size of the place:

A drug copayment is added, capped at NT$200 or NT$300 depending on the place. Prescriptions must be filled at an NHI-contracted pharmacy within three days.

Student group insurance (學生團體保險)

Each university buys its own student group insurance. We found no single national policy for university students, so the insurer, the benefits and the claim steps differ by school. Claims go through the school's student affairs office.

One example: National Chung Hsing University's plan for 2026 to 2028 pays, among other things:

• Hospital stay NT$500 a day in a ward, NT$1,000 a day in intensive care or a burn ward, up to 180 days a stay.
• Accident outpatient care Up to NT$10,000.
• Surgery Up to NT$5,000 outpatient, NT$6,000 inpatient, NT$30,000 for major surgery (actual cost).
• Major illness NT$250,000.
• Death NT$1,000,000.

Ask your child's school for its own plan. The summary is usually on the student affairs office's website.

The campus health center

Taiwan's School Health Act requires every school to have a health center (健康中心) for health checks and emergency care of injuries and illness, and to set rules for handling emergencies. NTU's Health Center, for example, takes emergency calls on (02) 3366-9595 from 8:00 to 17:00 and works with 119.

Hospitals with English services

The only official list we found is a bilingual-friendly hospital list (雙語醫院友善名單) dated August 2023, linked from the government's Taiwan Gold Card site. That site says these are hospitals where most doctors and staff speak good basic English, and that English service "varies". The list has not been updated since, so check with the hospital.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare's medical travel portal, in English, lists hospitals by specialty and region, but does not say which offer English.

Mental health support

• By law, universities offer counselling at three levels: for all students, for students with distress or trauma, and treatment-level help with psychological, social work and psychiatric services (Student Counseling Act, art. 6).
• Universities must have at least one full-time professional counsellor for every 900 students, counted by campus (art. 11).
• Counselling plans are made by school staff, who may invite the student or the parents to take part when needed (art. 6-1).
• For a student under 18, a licensed psychologist may counsel them without a parent's consent if the student agrees and a school case meeting finds it in the student's best interest (art. 5-1).
• 1925 is the Ministry of Health and Welfare's free 24 hour counselling line.

Good to know: Surgery needs a signed consent form, except in an emergency. When the patient is under 18, a legal representative, spouse, relative or related person may sign (Medical Care Act, art. 63). The same applies to invasive examinations or treatments the government names (art. 64).

Emergencies and how schools contact families

Schools report and handle incidents through a campus safety centre (校安中心). At NTU it is on 24 hour duty, handles emergencies together with the housing office, and tells the international affairs office at the same time when the student is international. The student's department notifies the mentor (導師) and the parents. If family or friends report a student missing, the unit they tell must pass it to the safety centre within 8 hours.

• Reporting to the ministry Under the Ministry of Education's rules, a school must report an emergency, such as a student at risk of death or two or more students seriously hurt, by phone within 2 hours. These rules cover reporting to the ministry, not telling families.
• The ministry's own centre The Ministry of Education runs a campus safety centre (校園安全及災害防救通報處理中心) on 24 hour duty. It takes enquiries and complaints from students, parents and the public and passes them to the right office.
• Telling parents We found no national rule on when a university must tell the parents of an adult student. NTU's steps are one school's example.

Two schools' emergency pages, as examples of what to look for at your child's school:

• NTU: Campus Security Center, 24 hours, (02) 3366-9119; counselling center (02) 3366-2181 in office hours.
• National Chengchi University (國立政治大學): Campus Security Team 02-2939-3091 ext. 66110; the duty officer on ext. 66119 or 0919-099-119. Its page notes that 119 has English available.

The National Immigration Agency's 1990 hotline answers in Mandarin, English and Japanese 24 hours a day, on topics including medical care and safety. From outside Taiwan it is +886-800-00-1990.

→ Safety, emergency numbers, earthquakes and typhoons

Where your consent is still needed (under 18)

A first-year student who is still 17 needs a legal representative's permission for contracts that are not necessities of daily life (Civil Code, art. 77). A contract made without it takes effect only if the parent later ratifies it (art. 79). The law gives no list, and does not name dorms, phones or leases. Once your child turns 18, this no longer applies. Places where a parent's role is written into the rules:

• Surgery and invasive treatment: a legal representative, spouse, relative or related person may sign for a patient under 18.
• Student loans: for a student under 18, the guarantor is one legal representative or a suitable adult. On the first signing, the student goes to the bank with the legal representative or joint guarantor.
• Student visa: Taiwan's Bureau of Consular Affairs may ask for parental or guardian consent case by case. NTU tells students under 18 to bring a guardian consent letter.
• Bank accounts for international students: a student without full legal capacity under their home country's law needs a parent or guardian consent form, verified by a Taiwan mission abroad or signed by a guardian in Taiwan.
• YouBike: a member under 18 may use it only after a legal guardian has read and agreed to the terms.
• Rent subsidy: the applicant must be an adult, though a person without full legal capacity may apply through the legal representative.

Costs and aid

Tuition, living costs, fee reductions, student loans and emergency relief each have their own guide. For how much a student needs each month, the living costs guide has rent and spending by city and what universities estimate.

→ Tuition and living costs → Fee reductions, loans and aid

Dorms and safety

Dorm places are limited and often decided by priority groups or a lottery, and some schools look at the household registration (戶籍) of the student and the parents. The dorms guide explains how this works at schools across Taiwan.

→ Dorms → Safety

How admission works

• The national rules for personal application (個人申請) do not mention parents at all. Some departments welcome parents at briefings on test or interview day, and one university runs a free shuttle from the high speed rail for applicants and parents.
• ColleGo!, the official department guide run by the universities' joint admissions council, has a section for parents (家長神隊友) with videos on how to find and explore department pages. Taiwan has 65 general universities, 32 public and 33 private.

→ Admission for Taiwanese students → Admission for international students

How to stay informed

• Whether a university sends grades or notices to parents is set in each school's own rules. We found no national rule.
• Find the school's student affairs office page: it usually holds the insurance plan, the emergency numbers and the safety centre's contact.
• It helps to know how the school would reach you if something happened, and to keep the campus safety centre's number.
• If you can't reach the school with a concern, the Ministry of Education's campus safety centre takes enquiries from parents and passes them on.

Questions

Will the university tell me if my child is hurt?

We found no national rule on when a university must tell the parents of an adult student. Each school sets its own steps. At National Taiwan University, the department notifies the student's mentor and parents when a safety incident happens. Ask your child's school how it contacts families.

Is my child insured from the first day?

Local students are covered by National Health Insurance through their household. International students must show medical and injury insurance for at least six months from entry, or buy the school's group plan, and join National Health Insurance after six months of residence. Universities also buy student group insurance, with benefits that differ by school.

My child is 17. Do I still need to sign things?

Under Taiwan's Civil Code, adulthood starts at 18. A student under 18 needs a legal representative's permission for contracts that are not necessities of daily life. Surgery consent, student loans and YouBike membership are examples where a parent's role is written into the rules.

Sources (30)

Checked November 2026.Show

Civil Code (民法), Medical Care Act (醫療法), Student Counseling Act (學生輔導法), School Health Act (學校衛生法), Regulations Regarding International Students Undertaking Studies in Taiwan, MOE campus safety centre rules and campus incident reporting rules, MOE learning portfolio rules, MOE student loan rules, NCHU student group insurance 2026 to 2028, NTU student safety incident flow, NTU emergency contacts, NTU insurance for international students, NTU before arrival, NCCU emergency contacts, NHIA copayment, NHIA prescriptions, Taiwan Gold Card, Health Care and its bilingual-friendly hospital list (2023), MOHW medical travel portal, MOHW 1925 line, NIA 1990 hotline, BOCA, resident visas for foreign students, FSC Banking Bureau FAQ, ColleGo! (article for parents), CAC personal application rules, academic year 116, Shih Chien University department rules, YouBike member terms, Ministry of the Interior rent subsidy Q&A.