Another issue is that no one is certain anymore what its role is. Chen Der-hwa says that when higher education was reserved for Taiwan's elites, the number of university students was limited, the quality of education was high, and there was no need to create a division of labor between institutions. But the popularization of higher education has made such a division and differentiation necessary if resources are not to be wasted.
高教司長陳德華指出，在菁英教育時期，大學數量少、品質高，沒有分類分工的必要，但高等教育普及化之後，為了避免資源浪費，必然要走上彼此區隔的分工之路。