Taoyuan American School (TYAS) is the only foreign school in Taoyuan built around an American curriculum. For a foreign-passport family settling in the Taoyuan corridor, or working near the airport and the aerotropolis, the choice is often between TYAS and a commute into Taipei or Linkou.
Two things shape the school's character more than any brochure line. It is small, and it does not own its campus: TYAS leases its buildings on the grounds of Kainan University in Luzhu, which gives its students university-scale sports facilities a school this size could not build alone, and gives the school a settled, contained feel. It is also young, founded in 2012, and still building the track record an established school rests on. This guide sets out what the school publishes about itself, what it does not, and where the honest questions are.
Families who look at TYAS are frequently weighing geography as much as pedagogy. For a foreign-passport family living in Taoyuan, the established Taipei and Linkou schools mean a daily commute, and TYAS is the school that removes it. The school leans into this, running door-to-door bus routes that reach across Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Nei-Li, Zhongli, and Linkou.
The questions that follow are practical ones. Whether the child qualifies, since like the established American schools TYAS requires a foreign passport. What the entrance assessment involves, since every applicant sits a placement test. And how a small, young school compares with the larger, older names an hour away. We work with Taoyuan families remotely, the same way we teach families across roughly eight countries, or in person at our academy in Taipei for those who prefer it, so the part we see is the preparation: readying a child for the placement test, building the academic English an English-medium classroom assumes, and keeping pace with Advanced Placement coursework in the upper grades.
The orienting facts, each drawn from the school's own published materials and checked in September 2026. Where the school does not publish something, this guide says so rather than filling the gap.
TYAS teaches an American, Advanced Placement curriculum in English, and admits only foreign-passport holders, the same eligibility gate as Taiwan's established American schools. One point worth settling early: despite offering AP, TYAS is an American school approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Education, and it is a candidate for international accreditation rather than a fully accredited school. What that distinction means is set out under Results below.
TYAS publishes two fee schedules on its own website, one in English and one in Chinese, and their figures do not match. Rather than choose one or average them, this guide shows both as the school states them, each labelled by source and date. Confirm the current year's figures with the school directly.
The school's English fee schedule is a PDF dated November 2021, its most recent English version. Its Chinese fee page lists higher figures. Both are the school's own numbers. Where they diverge, both are shown.
Billed per semester, two semesters per academic year.
| Grade band | English schedule (Nov 2021) | Chinese fee page |
|---|---|---|
| Grades 1 to 5 | NT$224,950 | NT$253,950 |
| Grades 6 to 12 | NT$249,480 | NT$278,480 |
The English schedule notes tuition includes accident insurance and the yearbook. Figures are per semester.
| Item | Amount | Applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Registration fee | NT$30,000 per year | All students |
| Capital fee, one time | NT$160,000 single payment, or NT$200,000 in two (English schedule). Chinese page lists NT$180,000 or NT$220,000 | On enrollment |
| Entrance exam fee, one time | NT$4,800 (English schedule), NT$5,000 (Chinese page) | New applicants, waived with an approved ISEE, TOEFL, TOEFL Junior, or IELTS score |
| English support (EAL) fee | NT$65,000 to NT$100,000 | Students placed into the EAL program |
| Textbooks | NT$5,000 to NT$20,000 per year | All students purchase their own |
| PE uniform and cap, one time | NT$5,800 | New students |
| Student service fee | NT$1,000 | All students |
| Clubs | From NT$9,200 | Optional |
| Lunch | NT$13,500 per semester | Optional |
| School bus, door to door | NT$37,000 to NT$55,000 per semester | Optional, by distance |
| Late payment | NT$5,000 | Overdue balances |
Source: TYAS fee schedule, English PDF dated November 2021, and the school's Chinese fee page. Checked September 2026. The school has not published a more recent English schedule, so treat these as the most recent published figures rather than confirmed current-year figures.
| Grades served | Grades 1 to 12 |
|---|---|
| New high school entry | Grades 9 to 12, with transcripts for all high school years required |
| Curriculum | American, aligned to California Common Core, with Advanced Placement |
| Advanced Placement | Nine courses on the current roster, set each year by student demand |
| Accreditation | Candidate for accreditation (the school's site carries a candidacy seal issued by the Accrediting Commission for Schools). Approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Education |
| Entrance assessment | WIDA placement test plus an interview with the Vice Principal |
| Eligibility | Foreign passport required |
| Enrollment, class size, teacher ratio | Not published by the school |
| University destinations | Not published by the school |
Where a row reads "not published by the school," the figure does not appear on any page the school publishes. Directory sites cite an enrollment of roughly 120 to 150 and a four-to-one student-to-faculty ratio, but the school states neither on its own site, so this guide does not carry them as facts.
TYAS opened to answer a specific need: an American-curriculum school for the international and returning families drawn to Taoyuan by the airport, the science and industrial parks, and the aerotropolis planned around them.
The school recruited its first students in September 2012, the first foreign school in Taoyuan to adopt an American curriculum. It sits on the campus of Kainan University in Luzhu, close to the interchange of the national freeway and the airport access road, which makes it one of the most airport-accessible international schools in the country, a real consideration for globally mobile families.
Because it leases its campus rather than owning a purpose-built one, TYAS trades a campus of its own for university-scale facilities and a compact footprint. That is the school's defining structural choice, and much of what a family gains or gives up at TYAS follows from it. The counterweight to its youth is honesty: with a first cohort only in 2012, TYAS is still building the graduate record that a decades-old school can point to, which is why the section below on results is careful about what can and cannot yet be said.
TYAS follows an American curriculum aligned to the California Common Core standards across all three school levels, taught in English, leading toward Advanced Placement courses in the high school.
In the elementary grades the program covers English language arts, writing, mathematics, science, social studies, visual art, music, computer science, and physical education. The middle school adds public speaking and journalism to that foundation. The high school carries English language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, Spanish, the visual and performing arts, computer science, digital publications, and physical education, and it is where Advanced Placement enters.
TYAS began teaching AP courses in the autumn of 2016 and now runs nine on its current roster, which it sets each year according to which courses students want: AP 2-D Art and Design, AP Calculus AB, AP Chinese Language and Culture, AP Computer Science A, AP Drawing, AP English Literature and Composition, AP European History, AP Physics 1, and AP World History. The roster changes from year to year, so a family counting on a specific subject should confirm it is running. The school also hosts the AP examination on its own campus. One clarification the school itself makes: TYAS is an American school teaching to California standards, not an International Baccalaureate school.
Two things a family researching TYAS should understand clearly: what its accreditation status is, and what the school does and does not publish about where its graduates go.
On accreditation, the precise status matters. TYAS is a candidate for accreditation, and it is approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. Its homepage displays a Candidate for Accreditation seal issued by the Accrediting Commission for Schools. Candidacy is a stage on the way to accreditation, not accreditation itself, and it is worth reading the school's own wording rather than a directory's summary, since some third-party listings describe the school as accredited when its own homepage states candidate status. For most families the practical read is that TYAS is a recognized, MOE-approved school working through the international accreditation process, and that the process is not yet complete.
On outcomes, TYAS does not publish a university destinations list, acceptance figures, or a graduate profile. Its college counseling page describes a process that begins in Grade 9 with one-on-one guidance, but it carries no cohort results. This is partly a function of the school's youth, and partly a choice about what to publish. The honest approach for a family is to assess TYAS on what can be verified, its curriculum, its accreditation stage, its faculty and facilities, rather than on graduate outcomes the school does not report. Where a school is this young, inputs are a fairer measure than a destinations list that does not yet exist.
Applications run on a rolling basis through the year, submitted online with supporting documents. The school asks for the student's and parents' foreign passports and any Taiwan residence documents, passport photographs, an immunization record, and records from the child's previous school in English: kindergarten reports for a Grade 1 applicant, the past two years of report cards for Grades 2 to 8, and official transcripts for all high school years for Grades 9 to 12. TYAS reviews an application in five to seven business days, and notes that a family applying from overseas may be pre-accepted, with the final admission and grade placement decided after screening.
Every applicant across Grades 1 to 12 then sits the WIDA placement test, alongside an interview with the Vice Principal that both the student and parents attend. An applicant who already holds an approved standardized score may submit it with the admission office's agreement. A child whose English is not yet at grade level is placed into the school's English as an Additional Language program, at the fee shown above, rather than turned away. Places are capped: the school states that once a class is full, further applicants join a waiting list, so for a specific grade in a given year, timing matters. The clearest single planning point is the passport requirement, which settles eligibility before anything else.
Harland is not a school and does not replace TYAS. We are a 1-on-1 tutoring academy, and we work with Taoyuan families remotely, in the three places the schooling decision creates real work for a family: getting in, building the foundation, and the university years.
TYAS admits students in Grades 1 to 12 who hold a foreign passport. It is approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Education. A family holding only ROC nationality is not eligible.
TYAS is a candidate for accreditation, not yet an accredited school. Its homepage carries a Candidate for Accreditation seal issued by the Accrediting Commission for Schools, and the school is approved by Taiwan's Ministry of Education.
Tuition is billed per semester, and the school publishes two schedules whose figures differ: its English schedule dated November 2021 lists NT$224,950 per semester for Grades 1 to 5 and NT$249,480 for Grades 6 to 12, and its Chinese page lists NT$253,950 and NT$278,480. A registration fee, a one-time capital fee, and an entrance exam fee apply on top. The full table is above.
An American curriculum aligned to the California Common Core standards, with nine Advanced Placement courses on the current roster. It is not an International Baccalaureate school.
Families apply online with supporting documents, the school reviews in five to seven business days, and every applicant takes the WIDA placement test and an interview with the Vice Principal. Class sizes are capped, and a full class moves further applicants to a waiting list.
Our Student Coordinator speaks with Taoyuan families regularly, and can help you work out whether your family qualifies, how the placement test works, and how to prepare, all before you visit. We work with Taoyuan families remotely. We start by listening.