Ming Chuan University began construction for the project on a plot of land it purchased 10 years ago in Kinmen, a county much closer to China's southeastern coast than to Taiwan.

The head of the university, Lee Chuan, said the education ministry approved the Kinmen campus project in 1998, a year before it bought the 15-hectare plot. Ming Chuan has been borrowing facilities from local schools to run graduate programs in Kinmen since the ministry approved the new campus project.

So far 214 students have graduated, and 84 are currently in masters' programs, the CNA said.

Lee said the ministry is planning to allow Taiwan universities to run adult education programs for non-Taiwan residents, meaning Chinese students can be recruited.