Be assured that CSP would not invite students to study for a semester in China if we did not believe it was safe to do so. China is a very safe country, with little crime due to very severe punishments. Our Chinese hosts are, if anything, overly protective at times, making every effort to assure your safety. The CSP Director, in consultation with CCCU headquarters, evaluates the relative safety of our excursions and site visits each semester. When, for reasons of safety, we have to alter our plans, we do so.
All of our programs have contingency plans if need for an early departure due to emergency arises. These plans include possible suitable alternatives for completion of the full semester of study. Fortunately, we have never needed to implement any of these emergency plans, but they are in place if circumstances require their use.
But a large part of your safety depends on you. While in China, you must be especially careful to practice good hygiene (e.g., wash your hands immediately before eating and whenever you return to your room). Also, traffic here is less tidy than in the U.S., so you need to be alert when crossing the street or taking local transportation.
The CSP gateway city (i.e, the city from which all the students depart for China together) has been Los Angeles. Travel from the gateway city to the program and back to the gateway city is included in the cost of tuition. (China Studies Program students are responsible for getting themselves from their homes to the CSP gateway city and back home.)
CSP students must arrive in L.A. at least three hours prior to their scheduled departure. Each group member will be given a means of identifying the others, they will meet at the designated airline counter and travel together to the program.
At arriving in at the airport in China (usually, Hong Kong International Airport), a CSP representative will meet the group and escort them to the CSP program site at Xiamen University, in Fujian, China.
Definitely. If you do not already have one, you should apply for a passport immediately. The requirements are somewhat strict, and once you have everything they require, it can still take well over a month to get your passport. U.S. passports are good for ten years; once you have one, you’ll be set for international travel for a long time. If you already have a passport, make certain that it is valid until 6 months beyond your return date. This is a requirement set by Chinese Immigration.
The Washington, DC, office of the CSP will be acquiring your visa for you (please see FAQ “How will I get my visa to get into the country?”).
As soon as possible after you are accepted, send your passport—not a copy—to the Washington CSP office, along with 2 photos valid for passport use, and dates of any past trips to China. These are needed for the DC office to obtain your visa. Our staff in D.C. will go personally to the Chinese embassy and apply for your visa. (We do this to assure that you get the right kind visa; mix-ups can prove to be a hassle and cost money!) Your passport with the Chinese visa in it will be returned to you on the day you depart from the gateway city (see FAQ, “How do I get to and from the CSP?”).
If you are traveling separately from the group, you may have to get your own Tourist Visa, which will need to be changed into a Student Visa after you arrive at Xiamen University. So you'll be paying for a visa twice. CCCU will cover the cost of your visa(s) up to the same amount as we would pay if you simply got one visa through us. Be sure to contact the Washington, DC office about your arrangements with the program administrator.
Most of the semester will be spent at beautiful Xiamen [pronounced like “SHAH men”] University, a modern, seaside university in the southern coast of China. CSP students will reside in a dormitory set aside for international students from around the world who come to study at Xiamen University.
While studying and traveling in China you will be staying in either university dormitory rooms built especially for international students (thus a cut above the rest) or at tourist-class hotels. Each dorm room has two beds, two desks, an air-conditioner/heater, a telephone, a television, and a bathroom. Clean bedding is provided, so don’t bring sheets, pillows, blankets, etc., but you’ll have to wash your linens yourself. The dorm has washing machines available for about 65 cents a load. Like nearly all Chinese, you’ll probably dry your clothes on a line.
During the travel components of the program, students could stay in hostels, hotels or other university dormitories. During such travel, there may occasionally be three students per room.
Currently, the CSP does not incorporate a home stay. The idea of hosting a foreign student in one's home is still quite strange to Chinese, and since most Chinese live in relatively small apartments, they are reluctant to have guests. However, it is not unusual for CSP students to make friends with Chinese and be invited to stay with them on an individual basis. One CSP student even moved in with five Chinese students (all in one dorm room) for three weeks. But since such stays are unoffical, they need to be worked out on your own.
Generally, even with the cost of travel thrown in, the CSP costs almost the same as what most CCCU students would pay for a semester of tuition, room and board on their home campus. That is not true in every case, however.
Actual costs and financial aid for participants may vary, depending on institutional policies. The sending campus is the credit-granting institution, and so they set their own fees. It is important to check with campus authorities so that you will know clearly what your costs will be.
The CCCU does not set the final cost to you for this study experience. Each CCCU campus has the right to alter the cost in any way it chooses. You must talk with your campus Business Office to find out a dependable dollar figure for this study program.
Actual costs and financial aid for participants may vary, depending on institutional policies. Each CCCU member school administrates financial aid differently for students who will not be present on campus for a given semester. The sending campus is the credit-granting institution, and so they set their own fees. It is important to check with campus authorities so that you will know clearly what your costs will be.
In most cases, some or all of a student's regular financial aid will apply. You must talk personally with your Financial Aid office on your campus to get a definitive answer as to exactly how much will apply to the CSP. Those with performance-based scholarships (such as athletic or music scholarships) are most likely to see a decrease in financial aid.
In all cases, government aid, Pell grants and bank loans are required by law to continue to apply as long as a student remains enrolled in his or her home institution (and CSP students do remain enrolled in their home institution while on the program).
A shock to your liberal-arts system. Chinese typically get up around 6 a.m., but you don’t have to. Most days, you will begin with an 8 o’clock class, just like all Chinese university students. Chinese classes are usually scheduled in 90-minute blocks, with a half-hour break between classes. Most of the time, the CSP arranges two 90-minute classes per day, but this depends largely on our Chinese professors’ schedules. Occasionally, you’ll have days with only one or up to three 90-minute classes.
Chinese take a very civilized two and a half hour break for lunch, so you are generally free from 11:30-2:30, during which time most Chinese nap. On certain days of the week, there are other activities for later in the afternoon and evening, such as a one-hour Tai Chi class, or English corner (on Tuesdays and Fridays) which begins around 9 p.m. and runs late.
The CSP expects participants to have had no previous training in Mandarin, the national language of China. Our goal for most students is “survival” competence, not eloquence. The focus is on learning the phrases and characters you need to take care of things like shopping, eating, and traveling.
A very few CCCU institutions offer Mandarin; if you already have a low-intermediate level of Mandarin, you can take more advanced classes with Xiamen University’s other international students. Even those who are in advanced classes, however, must take the same comprehensive exams on Chinese sentences and Chinese characters that all the other students take. This is to avoid the anomaly of having an “advanced” student who can’t say or write what our new learners can by the end of their study.
Currently, the CSP returns anywhere from 15-17 semester hours of credit. The difference depends on which (if any) electives you choose.
The CSP is composed of four core courses which all students must take:
1. Chinese I -- 3 credits
2. Chinese History, Geography, & Culture -- 3 credits
3. Contemporary Society: Public Policy & Economic Dev. -- 3 credits
4. Intercultural Communication – 3 credits
Students then choose to participate in either a Business Concentration or the China Studies Concentration for additional credits.
Business Concentration:
1. International Business in China -- 3 credits
2. Business Internship -- 3 credits
China Studies Concentration:
1. Chinese II -- 3 credits
OR
Eastern Philosophy & Religions -- 3 credits
(please note only one of the above courses may be taken for credit)
2. Tai Chi -- 1 credit
And/Or
Chinese Painting -- 1 credit
We use this phrase because, strictly speaking, the CSP does not grant you course credit; your university does. We recommend grades and credit hours based on guidelines set by CCCU, but your own school will determine what credit or grades you receive. You need to work out with your school what credit you will receive before coming to China, as well as whether you can take courses on a Pass / Fail system. Should your school allow you to take courses Pass / Fail, the CSP director will still assign you a grade for that course, which your school may then convert to Pass or Fail.
In practice, CSP credit will function just like your other credits. Though some schools have their own policies about grades & credits vis a vis off-campus study programs, most CCCU schools accept the recommended credit hours and grades for courses that they are able to transfer.
China is almost as large as the continental United States. It is also placed at roughly the same latitudes. So its weather is quite comparable to that of the U.S.
The city of Xiamen [pronounced like “SHAH men”], where CSP students spend the majority of the semester, has a sub-tropical climate with weather patterns much like Tampa, Florida—but with fewer thunderstorms. Generally, the fall semester has warm weather (shorts and short-sleeved shirts most of the time), and the spring semester cooler (light jackets and long pants).
Other cities the program visits, such as Xi'an or Beijing are much farther north and experience all four seasons. It can be chilly on the Great Wall in November or March, so be prepared for a variety of climates. In a pinch, you can always buy a sweater or heavy coat for relatively little money when you need one (say, 25 USD for a North Face-type coat).
Non-CCCU students may participate in the CSP on a space-available basis. A $200 charge may also be placed on a non-CCCU student.
Non-CCCU students should keep in mind that they must make arrangements with their school to receive credit and financial aid for the CSP. Examples of non-CCCU schools that have accepted the CSP “recommended” credits are James Madison University and Cornell.
CCCU students who are not citizens of the United States or Canada are eligible and invited to attend the CSP; however, you’ll need to check to find out if there are particular visa restrictions applied by Chinese Immigration to citizens of your country. (Most of the time, there are not, but you need to make sure.) In the past, the CSP has had participants who were citizens of Korea, Romania, and Texas.
Nope. Many independent opportunities for short-term summer experiences do exist through missions and English-instruction organizations, and some introduction to China is better than none. But the CSP is a semester-long experience. This is necessary to cover in-depth topics (like Chinese History and Economic Development) that a shorter program is likely to gloss over, as well as for the extensive study tours around China—which altogether take up about three weeks of the program.
The CSP is designed to give students almost constant exposure to the students at Xiamen University and the people in the city of Xiamen. CSP living quarters are mixed among the students of the university, and many of the program's activities are designed to push students to develop relationships with locals.
English Corner is an every-Friday event at Xiamen University where local students gather in the evening to practice their English. Past CSP students have attended these meetings to assist in tutoring and to be conversation partners. CSP alumni highly recommend English Corner as one effective means of developing relationships with local students.
The academic program of the CSP is designed especially for CSP students, primarily because of the language issue. In classes, CSP students are with each other, but are often taught by local faculty.
The experiential components of the program, such as trips and site visits, are designed to provide maximum exposure to daily life in China. Ample time is provided for students to simply BE in the selected area of the country.
All the time. The CSP is designed to give students almost constant exposure to the students at Xiamen University and the people in the city of Xiamen. CSP living quarters are right on campus, and many of the program's activities are designed to push students to develop relationships with locals. One example of this is English corner.
English Corner is a venue at almost all Chinese universities where local students gather in the evening to practice their English. At Xiamen University, English Corner is every Tuesday and Friday evening (except during holidays). CSP students are required to attend English Corner four times. Frequently, past CSP students have attended English Corner all semester. It is the place you are most likely to make Chinese friends, who will be of immense help to you. CSP alumni often maintain contact (via email) with their Chinese friends, and occasionally have come back to Xiamen to see them again.
The academic program of the CSP is designed especially for CSP students, primarily because of the language issue. In classes, CSP students are with each other, but they are often taught by Chinese professors. You will also spend a lot of time with Chinese during the arranged Service Project.
The experiential components of the program, such as trips and site visits, are designed to provide maximum exposure to daily life in China, including things such as overnight train travel. You will many opportunities to interact with the Chinese around you.
If you need your passport prior to that time, call the DC office to make arrangements (toll free 1-877-946-9373).
If you’re coming to the CSP from another country, then you’ll need make your own arrangements to get to the gateway city of entry (usually Hong Kong).
If, because you are coming from another country, you choose to get a visa to China on your own, be aware that this will entail some extra hassle, and if there’s a visa mix-up (a distinct possibility), this could add some costs.
It’s not unusual for students to arrange such a rendezvous. During the semester, if you want to meet with friends or relatives, you may do so when no CSP activities (including classes, tours and group meetings) are scheduled. CSP activities are only for CSP participants.
Your visa is a Student Visa, and it allows for a single entry. If you leave China—even for Hong Kong!—your visa is cancelled and you will not be able to re-enter China for at least one week (this is due to Chinese Immigration regulations, not us).
Sometimes students have circumstances which prevent the student from traveling to China with the group. In this instance, a student becomes responsible for making their own travel arrangements. The cost of your CCCU ticket from LAX to Xiamen will be deducted from what is charged to your school.
Airlines have become generally very strict about international bookings; it’s rare to impossible for a student to change a planned departure place or date to America without paying a large fee. This is not to say that such changes can’t be made, but you should be aware that they are not simple, and usually not free.
You will have to work with the DC office and program staff to make travel arrangements. You will want to purchase a plane ticket that arrives close to the same time as when the group will arrive. If this is not possible, you will need someone from the program staff to pick you up separately. Keep in mind, there will be about a 12-15 USD cost for the individual pick-up.
