In Taiwan, applications for establishing private higher education institutions were closed from 1971 to 1985. In 1985 and thereafter, higher education found versatile and flexible paths for development. Based on the statistical analysis of educational data from a number of previous related studies, this study focused mainly on the examination of the rapid change of the quantity and structure of higher education in Taiwan, and the relationship between the affecting factors and the educational policies of the government. Suggestions for the future development of high education in Taiwan were presented at the end of this paper.