Most families preparing to apply to TAS focus their energy on the ISEE, and for understandable reasons. The Independent School Entrance Examination is a genuinely difficult standardized test, and students who fall below the threshold do not progress to the interview stage. Preparing for it is necessary.
What we have seen in practice is that the interview is often the more decisive part of the process. A family that comes across as supportive, engaged, and genuinely excited about the school, with a child who is still developing in English but motivated and personable, is more likely to succeed than a family whose child is fluent but disengaged, or whose parents come across as anxious or pressuring.
TAS is, by design, a community with a specific academic and social culture. The interview is where the school evaluates whether a student and family fit it. Strong ISEE scores help, but they do not override how a family presents in the room. The families who understand that distinction tend to prepare more effectively and experience less anxiety along the way.
TAS is a fully English academic environment with a rigorous pace. Once a student is admitted, the work is real. Homework volume, reading expectations, writing demands, and class participation expectations are pitched at American independent school standards, not bilingual program standards.
Families whose students have been in Taiwanese or bilingual schooling, or who are moving to Taipei from different international curricula, tell us the first semester is the hardest. The curriculum moves quickly, English is assumed, and pastoral support is present but expects students to advocate for themselves. Students who have spent the summer before entry building their academic reading and writing in English tend to land on their feet. Students who arrive cold can spend months catching up.
This is the second phase of Harland's work with TAS families. After admission, our focus shifts to academic English across the subjects, writing fluency, and the specific study habits that a rigorous American curriculum rewards.
| Grade band | Total per year |
|---|---|
| Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5 | NT$956,770 |
| Grades 6 to 12 | NT$1,055,105 |
Both totals include a NT$50,000 enrollment deposit, which is nonrefundable and applies to returning students as well as accepted new students.
| Item | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Capital fee | NT$350,000, one time | Every student, on enrollment |
| Building fee | NT$6,500 per year | All |
| Application fee | NT$10,000 | First-time applicants |
| Application fee, reapplication | NT$5,000 | Applied the previous cycle |
| Outdoor program | NT$3,500 | Grade 2 |
| Outdoor program | NT$9,000 | Grades 3–5 |
| Outdoor program | NT$9,680 | Grades 6–8 |
| Laptop, purchased through school | NT$43,500 | Grades 6–8, required |
TAS states that it offers no sibling discount.
| Tuition, including the NT$50,000 enrollment deposit | NT$1,055,105 |
|---|---|
| Capital fee, one time | NT$350,000 |
| Building fee | NT$6,500 |
| Application fee | NT$10,000 |
| Outdoor program, Grades 6–8 | NT$9,680 |
| Required laptop, Grades 6–8 | NT$43,500 |
| First-year total | NT$1,474,785 |
This first-year total is Harland's calculation from TAS's published fee components, for a new Grade 6 student in 2026–27, before transport, lunch, supplies, and activity trips. TAS publishes the components; it does not publish this total.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Lunch | NT$115 per set. TAS suggests budgeting NT$30,000 a year for Lower School, NT$40,000 for Middle and Upper |
| Transportation, round trip | NT$70,940 to NT$74,480 per year, by zone |
| Transportation, one way | NT$35,470 to NT$37,240 per year, by zone |
| Student activity trips | NT$20,000 to NT$40,000 per trip, Middle and Upper School |
| Supplies, Middle School | NT$4,000 to NT$5,000 |
| Supplies, Upper School | Around NT$10,000 |
| Accident insurance | NT$672 per year |
Bus zones run outward from the districts nearest Tianmu. Zone 1 covers Shilin, Beitou, Tamsui, Songshan and Datong. Zone 2 covers Zhongshan, Neihu, Xinyi and Nangang. Zone 3 covers Da'an and Zhongzheng.
Source: TAS Tuition and Fees, school year 2026–27. Checked August 2026.
| First semester billed | May 15, 2026, due June 15, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Second semester billed | October 1, 2026, due November 2, 2026 |
| Enrollment deposit | Due at the close of re-enrollment in March for returning students, and with the acceptance letter for new students |
| Full refund, first semester | Written withdrawal on or before July 15 |
| Half refund | Withdrawal after July 15, or within the first four weeks of a semester |
| No refund | After the fourth week of a semester |
| Late payment | 2% per month on overdue balances |
| Grades served | Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 |
|---|---|
| Curriculum | American core, with Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate Diploma running in parallel |
| Accreditation | WASC, maintained since 1972 |
| Entrance assessment | ISEE, with interview |
| Eligibility | Foreign passport required |
| Enrollment, class size, teacher-student ratio | Published by TAS in its annual college profile, which is not text-extractable. Not verified against a primary source in this pass. |
TAS charges a one-time capital fee of NT$350,000 per student on enrollment, on top of tuition. It is a required fee rather than an option, and it is the largest single figure in the Taipei fee tables that most comparison pages leave out.
Nobody publishes what a first year actually costs, so the total above is arithmetic on TAS's own numbers, with every component shown. For a new Grade 6 student in 2026 to 2027 it comes to NT$1,474,785 before transport, lunch, supplies or trips. The figure is Harland's, assembled from TAS's published parts; TAS publishes the parts and not the sum.
Enrollment, class size and teacher-student ratio sit in the annual college profile, which TAS publishes as an Issuu flipbook rather than as text. The 2,500 figure shown above is TAS's own approximate description of its size; we flag it as unverified against that profile rather than confirmed, and the exact count, class size and ratio wait on a reading of the source.
Taipei American School was founded on September 26, 1949, in the early years of the Republic of China's government on Taiwan, to educate the children of American families posted to the country. It is one of the oldest international schools in East Asia and predates most of Taipei's other international institutions by decades.
TAS has operated as an American Institute in Taiwan contract school since the normalisation of US-Taiwan relations, which gives the school a formal relationship with the US government that no other school in Taipei holds. The current Tianmu campus was opened in September 1989, following the school's outgrowth of earlier sites.
The school's founding intent, to serve an American expatriate community with an American curriculum, has evolved. Today TAS serves more than 2,500 students from over 33 nationalities, all foreign passport holders, and offers both Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate Diploma alongside its American core. The school describes its educational mission in terms of preparing students for American higher education and for responsible participation in a global community, a framing that has remained consistent across the school's evolution.
TAS runs an American curriculum from Kindergarten through Grade 12. Mandarin Chinese is a required strand K through 12, integrated daily in the Lower School and taught across five proficiency levels in the Middle School. In the Upper School (Grades 9 to 12), students build programs combining college preparatory courses, Advanced Placement, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma.
30 AP courses offered across sciences, mathematics, humanities, and the arts. Includes AP Capstone (AP Seminar plus AP Research plus four AP exams for the Capstone Diploma).
Most TAS students take AP as their primary advanced coursework. Suits students targeting US universities and those who prefer an exam anchored approach.
Full IB Diploma available with 37 IB courses. Students who choose the full Diploma commit to six subjects plus Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge, and CAS.
Suits students targeting UK, Canadian, European, and Hong Kong universities, or those who prefer the coursework and extended essay rhythm.
TAS publishes aggregate AP performance annually and recognition data for the AP Scholar program. Subject level AP breakdowns and recent IB Diploma results are not made publicly available by the school.
In the 2024 AP examination session, TAS students achieved an 89% qualifying rate, meaning nearly nine in ten AP exams were scored at 3 or higher. This is a strong result for a school running a broad AP program across 30 subjects, where wider participation typically compresses aggregate scores.
87% of TAS AP students earned AP Scholar recognition from the College Board in 2023 to 2024, with individual awards including 19 AP Scholars, 10 with Honor, 4 with Distinction, and 4 International Diplomas.
Approximately 15% of Upper School students choose the full IB Diploma. The school does not publish aggregate IB scores or pass rates, noting only that the majority of TAS IB students perform at or above worldwide subject averages.
TAS's most recent published profile draws on more than one graduating class. The Class of 2025 numbered 205 students, 10% of whom spent their entire schooling at TAS. TAS reports that in the fall of 2024, 85% of its graduates matriculated to universities in the United States. Its published destination breakdown, 73 institutions across the United States and Canada, 10 across Europe and the United Kingdom, and 6 across Australia and the Asia-Pacific, is labelled by TAS as the Class of 2024. We give each figure the year TAS gives it rather than collapse them into one.
TAS is an American Institute in Taiwan contract school, which means eligibility is narrower than some Taipei international schools. Assessment combines the ISEE (Independent School Entrance Examination) with interviews and documentation review. TAS is one of the few schools in Taipei that uses a standardized external test.
What we observe in the families we have helped navigate TAS, alongside what is publicly known about the school. A useful filter before committing to ISEE preparation and the application timeline.
TAS is the school where our work spans two distinct phases: before admission and after. Our approach reflects what actually moves the needle at each, and reflects a specific philosophy about how to prepare a student for an American independent school.
The Taipei guide, school-by-school coverage, and two Harland Review editorials families often read alongside TAS.
TAS is an American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) contract school and admits only students holding foreign, non-ROC nationality. Among eligible applicants it gives priority to siblings of enrolled students, US-passport holders, and children of AIT-affiliated parents.
Yes. TAS is one of the few Taipei schools that uses a standardized external test: applicants sit the ISEE and an interview, with the main application window in August. A foreign passport is also required, so preparing for the ISEE well ahead of that window matters.
Tuition for 2026-27 is NT$956,770 from Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 5 and NT$1,055,105 in Grades 6 to 12, before required fees. New families also pay a one-time capital fee of NT$350,000, plus an annual building fee and application fees. The full table is above.
Both. In the Upper School students combine college-preparatory courses with Advanced Placement and the International Baccalaureate: 30 AP courses (including AP Capstone) and a full IB Diploma with 37 IB courses. Most students take AP as their primary advanced coursework.
Yes. TAS is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), which it has maintained since 1972. It was founded in 1949.
A consultation with our Student Coordinator clarifies which part of the TAS journey matters most for your family right now, whether that is ISEE preparation, interview readiness, or supporting a current student through the academic demands. We start by listening.