In 1949, Taiwan had one university, three colleges and a student population of just 5,000. Now there are 154 institutes of higher education, and almost a million students. This boom is partly attributable to the growth in Taiwan's economy and its burgeoning prosperity, but the deregulation of education has also played a large part. The Private School Act of 1974 encouraged the establishment of private universities and - 30-odd years on - 60 per cent of the country's colleges and universities are private.