Kaohsiung American School is the established international school of southern Taiwan, founded in 1989 by families connected to the American Institute in Taiwan, and it sits on the foreign-passport gate. Its own admissions page states that both the ROC government and the school require every student to hold a valid foreign passport, so a family holding only Taiwanese nationality cannot enroll. Check that gate first: it decides the shortlist before anything else.
The second fact corrects a natural assumption. The name says American, and the diploma is American, a WASC-accredited US high school diploma. But the program underneath is the International Baccalaureate: KAS runs the IB Middle Years Programme in Grades 6 to 10 and the IB Diploma in Grades 11 and 12, on a foundation of US standards, and it offers no Advanced Placement on campus, only online AP through a partner. So a family coming from an AP-based American school elsewhere is moving into an IB structure, and a family that wants the IB gets it here inside an American school. This guide sets out the eligibility gate, the fees the school publishes in full, and the honest reading of what KAS is.
The families who ask us about KAS are, for the most part, foreign-passport families in or moving to Kaohsiung, for whom KAS is the obvious first name: the city's long-established school with an American diploma and an international cohort. Their questions are usually about the IB, since the name gives no sign of it. What the Middle Years Programme asks of a child arriving from a more traditional American school. Whether a strong student should take the full Diploma in Grades 11 and 12. And how the online-only AP works for a student who wants a particular AP subject the school does not teach in person.
We work with Kaohsiung families remotely from our base in Taipei, the same way we teach families across roughly eight countries, and Kaohsiung is about ninety minutes away by high-speed rail for a family that prefers some sessions in person. What we see is the transition the IB demands: the academic English that the Middle Years Programme and then the Diploma assume, since KAS assesses English from Grade 3 and places a child who needs it into a paid support program, and the writing and analysis the Diploma years reward. Holding a child ready for an IB pathway, whatever their starting system, is the work we do.
The orienting facts, each drawn from the school's own materials and checked in September 2026. Figures are the school's own, in New Taiwan dollars unless noted.
KAS is a private, non-profit foreign school, governed by an elected board that includes an American Institute in Taiwan representative. It is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and authorized by the International Baccalaureate for both the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma. Its graduates receive an American high school diploma, with the IB Diploma available alongside it in the final two years. It teaches no Advanced Placement on campus, offering AP only as online courses through a partner. And it publishes its fees in full, which is why this guide can carry them.
KAS publishes a full fee schedule. Tuition is billed per semester, and the annual figure is double the per-semester rate. The tables below are the school's own, for the 2026 to 2027 year, in New Taiwan dollars except the capital fee, which the school charges in US dollars.
Beyond tuition, a new student pays a one-time capital fee of US$8,000, charged in US dollars, which is a substantial sum separate from the recurring fees. There is no refundable deposit: the registration, capital, and technology fees are all non-refundable. Tuition is billed each semester, so the annual figure is twice the rate shown.
Billed each semester. Annual is double. Includes textbooks, excludes English support and other fees.
| Grade band | Per semester | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| PreK to Grade 5 | NT$243,150 | NT$486,300 |
| Grades 6 to 8 | NT$271,900 | NT$543,800 |
| Grades 9 to 12 | NT$291,850 | NT$583,700 |
Source: KAS admissions page and 2026 to 2027 fee summary. Checked September 2026.
| Item | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Capital fee, new student | US$8,000 | One time, charged in US dollars, non-refundable |
| Capital fee, continuing student | NT$10,000 per semester | Discount for multiple children |
| Registration fee | NT$35,000 | Annual, non-refundable, not prorated |
| Application fee | NT$5,000 | Per applicant, non-refundable, does not guarantee a place |
| Middle School technology program | NT$35,000 | One time on entering Middle School, includes a device |
| English support, per semester | NT$10,000 to NT$65,000 | By assessed level, where support is needed |
| Refundable deposit | None | No refundable deposit or bond |
| Lunch, bus | Optional, for a fee | As used |
For a new Grade 9 student in 2026 to 2027, tuition of NT$583,700 for the year plus the registration fee of NT$35,000 comes to NT$618,700, and on top of that the one-time capital fee of US$8,000 falls in the first year. English support, where needed, and lunch and bus are additional. These totals are Harland's arithmetic on the school's own figures, shown so a family can budget the real first year, including the US dollar capital fee, rather than the tuition line alone.
| Grades served | PreK to Grade 12, on one Zuoying campus |
|---|---|
| Enrollment | 781 students in the school's 2025 to 2026 profile, of whom around 270 in the high school |
| Curriculum | US standards throughout, IB Middle Years Programme Grades 6 to 10, IB Diploma Grades 11 to 12. Not an AP school on campus |
| Advanced Placement | None taught on campus. Available only as online courses through a partner |
| Graduate credential | A WASC-accredited American high school diploma. Diploma students may also earn the IB Diploma or the IB Bilingual Diploma |
| Accreditation | WASC-accredited. Authorized IB World School for the MYP since 2015 and the Diploma since 2010 |
| Admissions | Rolling, year-round, with mid-year entry where space allows. Placement and English assessment required |
| English support | Offered by assessed level, PreK to 2 need not be fluent, Grades 3 to 12 must pass an English assessment |
| Eligibility | A valid foreign passport required at every grade. ROC-only nationals not eligible |
| Class of 2025 IB | Average Diploma score 34, highest 45, with 44 percent earning a bilingual diploma |
Where a row reads "none" or gives a range, that is the school's own position. The school's 2025 to 2026 profile gives two slightly different high-school student counts, and this guide carries the rounded figure rather than resolving the school's own divergence.
KAS has the longest history of any international school in Kaohsiung, and its origins explain both its American character and its link to the American Institute in Taiwan.
The school opened in 1989 with sixteen students in apartments at a hospital compound, started by families connected to the American Institute in Taiwan and the American Chamber of Commerce who needed an English-language school in the south. It grew into the established international school of the region and, in 2016, moved to a purpose-built, LEED-certified campus near Lotus Pond in Zuoying District. It is a private, non-profit school governed by an elected board that includes a representative of the American Institute in Taiwan, the practical form of the American affiliation the name carries.
Its stated mission is to challenge students to achieve academic excellence and to become balanced individuals, independent learners, and global citizens, a set it shortens to Balanced, Independent, Global. It describes itself as a school of three A's, academics, arts, and athletics, with high participation in sport and a large co-curricular and service program. KAS, then, is a long-established, American-affiliated school that chose the IB as its academic spine. That is a more particular identity than the name conveys, and worth settling before a family compares KAS with the other schools in the city.
The curriculum is the fact the name obscures, and the one to understand most clearly. KAS builds on US standards in the early years, then runs the International Baccalaureate through the middle and senior school.
In the elementary years the school teaches to US standards, Common Core in English, and established American frameworks in mathematics and science, within an inquiry-based approach. From Grade 6 it enters the IB Middle Years Programme, which runs as a five-year program through Grade 10, and in Grades 11 and 12 it offers the IB Diploma, which a majority of its students complete. Every graduate receives an American high school diploma accredited by WASC, and a Diploma student may earn the IB Diploma, or the IB Bilingual Diploma, or individual course certificates alongside it. The school has held IB authorisation for the Diploma since 2010 and the Middle Years Programme since 2015.
Two points matter for a family choosing KAS. It teaches no Advanced Placement on campus. AP is available only as online courses through a partner, taken for transcript credit, and a full IB Diploma candidate in the final two years may not take online courses outside the Diploma, so a family set on a broad on-campus AP catalog should look instead at an American school like Morrison Academy Kaohsiung. And the IB itself is the point of difference from the other foreign schools in the city: a family that wants the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma finds them here, inside a school with an American diploma and an American affiliation. On Chinese, the school teaches Mandarin within its program rather than as a bilingual stream, and a family whose priority is a bilingual Chinese education would look instead at the open-gate school, I-Shou International School.
KAS publishes an annual high school profile with its own results, and they show a school whose IB cohort performs above the global average, read with the school's own framing.
For the class of 2025 the school reports an average IB Diploma score of 34, against a global average around 30, with a highest score of 45 and 44 percent of the cohort earning a bilingual diploma, a high proportion that reflects the number of students working across two languages. It publishes a course-by-course IB score distribution in which its subject averages sit above the world averages. On the American side, the class of 2025 SAT figures show a median around 1280, with the school noting it does not have significant ACT data to report. These are the school's own published figures, labelled to the class of 2025.
On destinations, the school publishes three years of matriculations, and is careful to say it lists where students enrolled rather than the offers they received. The list runs across the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Asia, with the University of Toronto, New York University, Northeastern, and the University of Southern California among the more frequent destinations and a spread that includes Cambridge, Stanford, and Cornell. For the class of 2025 the school gives destination shares of roughly 69 percent to the United States, 10 percent each to Canada and Australia, and the remainder to the United Kingdom, Asia, and Europe. Read the list as the school intends it: a record of where a small cohort went over three years, not a promise for any one student.
Beyond the gate, the process is rolling and open through the year, and the school accepts students mid-year where a grade has space, placing a family on a waiting list when it does not. A family applies online, the child sits admissions testing for a non-refundable application fee of NT$5,000, and the school evaluates English proficiency, which for Grades 3 to 12 means passing an English assessment and for Grades 8 to 12 means having sound academic English. The admissions committee then decides, and the school is clear that a passed test and a paid fee do not by themselves guarantee a place. English support is available for a child who needs it, priced by assessed level, though the youngest applicants who are not yet fluent compete for limited support places.
Two practical notes. Entry is possible at any grade including the high school, subject to space and eligibility, though a family aiming at the full IB Diploma should plan to enter by Grade 11, since the Diploma is a continuous two-year course. The cost structure has one unusual feature to plan for: the one-time capital fee for a new student is US$8,000, charged in US dollars, a large sum on top of tuition. Age cut-offs follow the standard pattern, a child must reach the grade's age by the first of September.
Harland is not a school and does not replace KAS. We are a 1-on-1 tutoring academy, and we work with Kaohsiung families remotely from Taipei, in the three places the schooling decision creates real work for a family: getting in, the IB years, and university.
KAS requires a valid foreign passport, and states on its own site that both the ROC government and the school require every student to hold one. A family holding only ROC nationality is not eligible. A child with a foreign passport qualifies, and the school assesses English proficiency from Grade 3 upward.
The IB. Despite its name, KAS is an IB World School, running the Middle Years Programme in Grades 6 to 10 and the IB Diploma in Grades 11 and 12, built on US standards. Every graduate receives an American high school diploma, and Diploma students may earn the IB Diploma alongside it. It offers no Advanced Placement courses on campus, only online AP through a partner.
For 2026 to 2027, tuition is billed per semester: NT$243,150 for PreK to Grade 5, NT$271,900 for Grades 6 to 8, and NT$291,850 for Grades 9 to 12, so roughly NT$486,000 to NT$584,000 a year. A new student also pays a one-time capital fee of US$8,000, charged in US dollars, plus an annual registration fee and, where needed, an English support fee. There is no refundable deposit.
Yes. KAS is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, so its diploma is a WASC-accredited American diploma, and it is an authorized IB World School for both the Middle Years Programme and the Diploma. It is a foreign school recognized by Taiwan's Ministry of Education and affiliated with the American Institute in Taiwan.
Applications are rolling and accepted through the year, with mid-year entry where space allows. A family applies online, the child sits a placement and English assessment for an assessment fee, and an admissions committee decides. English proficiency is required from Grade 3, and a foreign passport is required at every grade.
Our Student Coordinator speaks with Kaohsiung families regularly, and can help you think through the eligibility gate, what the IB Middle Years Programme and Diploma involve, and how to prepare a child for the assessment. We work with families remotely from Taipei. We start by listening.