According to the MOE, from 1995 to 2004, the number of master's programs in Taiwan grew from 656 to 2416. Over the same period, the number of students seeking master's degrees surged from 33,000 to 180,000, even outnumbering undergraduates in some schools, making master's programs the driving force in Taiwan's higher education system.
根據教育部統計，從 1995 到 2004 的 10 年間，全國碩士班從 656 所增加為 2416 所，碩士生更從 3 萬 3000 人暴增為 18 萬人，部份大學研究所的規模甚至已經超過大學部，碩士班教育儼然已經成為台灣高等教育的主力。