National Tsing Hua University announced the expansion of its "Tsing Hua-Berkeley Dual Degree Program" with the top-ranked public university in the United States, the University of California, Berkeley. During their four years of undergraduate studies, students from 11 departments at National Tsing Hua University, including physics and chemistry, can apply to spend one academic year or one semester at UC Berkeley and have priority in applying to UC Berkeley's graduate schools. This is equivalent to taking a direct express train from National Tsing Hua University to UC Berkeley.

National Tsing Hua University President Yan Da Ren stated that it is the only university in Taiwan to have signed a dual degree program with UC Berkeley. Undergraduates can apply for the "3+1+X" program, which means studying at National Tsing Hua University for the first three years, attending UC Berkeley during the fourth year, and then having priority in applying to UC Berkeley's master's or doctoral programs. Alternatively, they can choose the "3.5+0.5+X" model, which means studying at UC Berkeley during the second semester of their fourth year.

The "Tsing Hua-Berkeley Dual Degree Program" was launched in 2019, with only three departments, including the Department of Applied Physics, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and the Department of Engineering, eligible to apply. In 2021, the School of Engineering, the Institute of Nuclear Science, the Institute of Molecular Biology, and the Institute of Electrical and Computer Engineering were added. This year, the program has expanded further to include the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Physics, the Department of Chemistry, and the College of Science. There are a total of 11 departments, and the number of students admitted has doubled to 45. In the future, the program is expected to expand to include the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Department of Industrial Engineering, fully incorporating the College of Science and Engineering at National Tsing Hua University into the dual degree program.

Matthew Sherburne, the international director of the College of Engineering at UC Berkeley, stated that the acceptance rate for general master's and doctoral students in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering is around 12%, but this year, National Tsing Hua University students had a remarkably high acceptance rate of 25%. He also looks forward to more teaching and research collaborations between the two universities in the fields of nuclear engineering, semiconductors, and their supply chains.

President Yan Da Ren pointed out that in the past four years, a total of 45 National Tsing Hua University undergraduate students have attended UC Berkeley through the dual degree program. In addition, under the memorandum of cooperation, 24 master's and doctoral students have been selected to exchange with UC Berkeley. Fang Jia yang, a student in the engineering department at National Tsing Hua University, participated in the "Tsing Hua-Berkeley Dual Degree Program" and went to UC Berkeley to study nuclear engineering during the second semester of his senior year in January last year. He has successfully applied to UC Berkeley's Nuclear Engineering program and is expected to graduate this semester, earning both a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from National Tsing Hua University and a Master's degree from UC Berkeley's Nuclear Engineering program in just five years.