You may choose to enroll in Chinese Language Studies or Chinese Studies Courses. All courses are with other USAC participants.
 
Students in the Chinese Language Studies courses will enroll in three sequential (back-to-back) language courses, and will select elective courses from Chinese Studies, totaling 12-18 credits.  Students will take a placement test at the beginning of the program to determine the level of Chinese they will be enrolled in. No prior Chinese language is needed to enroll in the Chinese Language Studies program. Students placing in Intermediate Chinese or higher are required to enroll in Chinese Conversation as an elective. An example of a sequence of language courses would be: Intermediate Chinese I, Intermediate Chinese II and Advanced Chinese I.
 
Students in the Chinese Studies Program take courses taught in English and are meant to familiarize the students with the region, culture, country and Asia. Elementary Chinese I or the equivalent is required for all non-language students. Students in the Chinese Studies Program also take 12-18 credits.
 
For a list of the Chinese Language courses and Chinese Studies courses, please access the USAC website and select the appropriate term.

Summer Students:

Students can enroll in either Summer Session I (5 weeks), Summer Session II (4 weeks) or both I & II (9 weeks). Students will enroll in 3-6 credits in session I and 3-5 credits in session II (you can take 6 credits in session II only if you are enrolled in an intensive language course). During both sessions, students will choose from either language intensive courses or cultural courses. Students planning to use financial aid need to be enrolled in at least 6 credits.

Summer language courses are intensive, with students earning 1-5 credits of Chinese, per session. Students can decide to take only Chinese language courses or a mixture of Chinese language and culture courses. Students who do not take an intensive Chinese language course are required to take introduction to Chinese Language I or Chinese Language II for one credit. All Chinese Culture and International Studies courses are taught in English and are designed to familiarize students to China. All courses are with other USAC participants. For a list of Summer courses, please access the USAC website.

Internships in Chengdu (semester/academic year only): 

Qualified students may apply for internships during their time abroad. These internships are designed to complement the academic program. As a result, interns receive credit (a maximum of three) but no financial compensation. The schedule and number of work hours will be determined by the schedule of USAC courses. USAC will attempt to place students in any major field of work/study, but it is not guaranteed. Past placements have been with organizations who want to enhance their English speaking skills or marketing materials, at Chengdu Daily Newspaper, teaching English as a second language in schools, Geologic Research Institute, etc. Students should notify the Chengdu coordinator about their desire to do an internship prior to their arrival in Chengdu. Students need to have a GPA of 3.0 and be in junior standing by the time of the program. Chinese language abilities are not required, but strongly suggested to make the experience more enjoyable. A refundable $200 fee is charged and returned upon successful completion of the internship. 

Whether or not an internship will come back as internship credit for your major will vary. Students are encouraged to contact their academic advisors to discuss what completing an internship abroad will do for them.