BestSemester.com is the portal for the off-campus study programs offered by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). There are a total of eleven semester programs and one summer program designed to serve the academic interests of CCCU member institutions.
About the CCCU
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is an international association of intentionally Christian colleges and universities. Founded in 1976 with 38 members, the Council has grown to 111 members in North America and 73 affiliate institutions in 24 countries. The CCCU is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in the Historic Capitol Hill district of Washington, D.C. The Council’s mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
Student Programs -- Washington, DC Office
321 Eighth Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Phone: 202.548.5201
Fax: 202.546.8914
info@bestsemester.com
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
American Studies Program
THE ASP SEMESTER is designed with your professional future in mind. Your experiences provide greater clarity and confidence to pursue what comes next after graduation. ASP is the Washington, D.C. semester program that:
- Puts a priority on connecting biblical faith with public life and vocation
- Places you in a diverse community of committed believers
- Provides regular and direct engagement with expert scholars and practitioners leading in their respective fields
- Complements your internship experience with the opportunity to be mentored by established Christian professionals in your field of interest
- Ensures you finish with an original piece of global development or public policy research supported by D.C.-based field research
- Invites you to join a vibrant alumni community of over 2700 professionals, which will continue to serve you long after your semester on the program
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Australia Studies Centre
The Australia Studies Centre is a cultural studies program with an arts focus, based in Sydney, Australia. The program is run by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), an international association of intentionally Christian colleges and universities. Designed to provide undergraduates of all majors and career interests with the opportunity to study the arts and theology in Sydney, the program also emphasizes Indigenous studies and faithful, global involvement.
Cultural Interaction is a large factor of the ASC semester. Students participate in service projects and live in homestays with local families to help them encounter the Australia that tourists never see. From art and ministry to drama and dance, students attending ASC have every opportunity to pursue their passions and interests with other Christians from around North America and the world even as they compare and contrast the Australia of myths and movies with the realities of everyday life. Throughout the semester, ASC students engage the history of Australia's Indigenous peoples and discover their modern identities and present realities.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
China Studies Program
You will never be the same after your semester at the China Studies Program (CSP). From the first time you eat baozi for breakfast till your teary goodbye with Chinese friends, you will see your worldview changing in ways you'd never imagined. Dynamic balance is the way the Chinese mind perceives life. It is in understanding that low profile and high expectations, generosity and obligation, sweet and sour, activity and passivity are opposites that complement each other for a full life.
After spending the first eight days of CSP in Hong Kong, students are then hosted by Xiamen University for ten weeks throughout the semester. Xiamen University is located by the South China Sea in sub-tropical southeastern China. CSP also spends two weeks in the ancient capital city of Xi'an (as part of the History module), a week in rural China for a service project, and a week touring sites in Beijing (the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City) and Shanghai. Overall, you'll spend time in the northwest, northeast and southern regions of China — a wide sampling of a huge and diverse country.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Contemporary Music Center
Ever listen to a song on the radio and think you could do it better? Wish you had the inside scoop on how the music industry really works? Would you spend hours and hours of free time writing your own songs? What if you could record them in a world-class studio? Do you ever think about using your God-given musical talents and interests to make people think a little more? Answer these questions at the Contemporary Music Center (CMC).
This interdisciplinary off-campus study program provides a community for young musicians, engineers and aspiring music executives to plumb the depths of their creative souls and test the waters of a career in popular music. Designed as an artists' community, the program seeks to develop artists, technicians and music executives with a Christ-centered vision for music content, production and delivery. The mission of the CMC is to prepare students academically and creatively for potential careers in the music industry.
“The CMC is a dream come true. Never did I think that my college education would encompass such fun, interesting, and relative classes. I’m on my way to a psychology degree… with music education included!”
- Mark Preston, Gordon College
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
India Studies Program
"Unity in Diversity" is the hallmark of the nation of India. There are 28 states and 7 union territories, 22 officially recognized languages and numerous dialects, about 9 religions and nearly 2000 ethnic groups across India. The India Studies Program offers a unique opportunity to encounter one of today's most fascinating and diverse cultures. This diversity, as well as the call to be an obedient witness for Christ throughout the world, provides a rich and engaging setting to equip students to be servant-leaders in a pluralistic world of beliefs, cultures and needs.
In particular, the India Studies Program will challenge students to discover for themselves a variety of ways to address the needs of the poor and disenfranchised, acting as agent of salt and light in broken world.
The India Studies Program is structured to provide students with both immersion in a local community and broad exposure to a variety of peoples, places and customs in India including an extensive two-week travel portion of the program to provide students a close up look at India's diversity. Students will participate in two core courses designed to provide a broad overview of the historical, religious, geographical and economic landscape of India. Building on their basic understanding of India's past and contemporary realities, students will have opportunities to explore a variety of issues -poverty, social justice, rapid social change, religious pluralism - through the eyes and experience of Indian Christians. Rounding out the semester experience, students will also have the opportunity to take courses in their major areas with Indian students and professors.
At its heart, the India Studies Program strives to encourage and equip students to effectively relate to India and its people in an informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Latin American Studies Program
Engage in the complexity of Latin America at the Latin American Studies Program.
Homestays, field studies, and lively classroom exchanges will expose you to the many realities of Latin America. Enrich your university experience by developing relationships with Latin Americans from diverse walks of life: politicians, religious leaders, community development workers, laborers, youth, elderly, wealthy and impoverished. Engage these new friends in discussions about the role of the United States in Latin America, responses to poverty, the environmental crisis, economics, human rights, and more...
LASP gives you the opportunity to leave your familiar North American campus to experience firsthand the diversity of Latin America. Become equipped to critically examine and respond to global challenges. Consider joining LASP to experience Latin America for yourself!
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Los Angeles Film Studies Program
Once upon a time...
A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...
In the beginning...
These words have drawn us into some of the most powerful stories the world has known; stories that have shaped our lives and how we see the world. Stories have long been one of the most powerful forces in the human experience. Those who can communicate a story in a visual way have the attention of the culture and those around the water cooler.
At the LA Film Studies Center, we carefully fuse cutting-edge technology with the timeless principles of story to train those who desire to join the community that creates the motion pictures of Hollywood. If faith, technology and the storytelling of films and television have been areas you find yourself drawn to, we are here to help you explore their intersection. Whether you simply have an interest in these matters or know in your heart you are called to this industry, the LAFSC will help guide you in finding the next step in your journey.
Located in one of the primary film and television production centers in L.A. and utilizing state of the art camera and editing equipment, LAFSC is designed to integrate a Christian worldview with an introductory exploration of the work and workings of mainstream Hollywood entertainment.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Middle East Studies Program
You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly. Or... you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel, Old Cairo, Jerusalem or the street called "Straight" in Damascus. Whether sitting with Bedouins for dinner, hearing the opinions of Israeli and Palestinian youth or bargaining in Cairo's Khan al Khalili souk, you realize that experiences like this embed life lessons in ways that mere book learning never can. Are you ready to give it a try?
The Middle East Studies Program (MESP) seeks to prepare students to live the Christian life in a world that is religiously and culturally pluralistic, whether that's in the Middle East, North America or other parts of the world. Students experience intense encounters with different worldviews while the MESP community offers a supportive environment.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Oxford Summer Programme
Keats thought it the finest city in the world. Granted, it averages 172 rainy days a year, but it also breeds some of history's most notable people. JFK had 16 Oxford graduates in his administration, 24 of Britain's 49 prime ministers studied at the University and the list of distinguished graduates grows ever longer. Maybe it's all that time spent indoors, sheltered from the rain that leads to such genius. Maybe it's that studying, learning and growing is the purpose of the place. It's developing your grey matter that brings rejoicing in those moments of sunlight and understanding.
Read, learn, and live in the "city of dreaming spires." The Oxford Summer Programme allows you, as an affiliate member of Wycliffe Hall, University of Oxford, to do intensive scholarship in this historic seat of learning. Work with world-class academics to hone your skills and delve into the areas that interest you most. Broaden your thinking by living and learning in this major crossroads of the academic world.
The Oxford Summer Programme (OSP) is a programme of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities and Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. Wycliffe Hall was established in Oxford in 1877 with a vision for training Christian leaders for the church and is a centre for both ministerial training and academic study. The programme is designed to enable students to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Christian tradition in the British Isles and to do specialized work under Oxford academics. The Oxford Summer Programme may be taken for six credits and is appropriate for a variety of academic levels including graduate students and seminary students (see Academics).
OSP is now extended to a fifth week in order to allow students to participate in tutorials as part of the curriculum. Each student will have two tutorial meetings, the quintessential form of Oxford pedagogy, as part of each seminar.
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Scholars Semester in Oxford
Details to come. To check on the progress of this program, please contact Natalie Kompik.
Uganda Studies Program
Why do YOU belong in Uganda next semester? "The Uganda Studies Program…will change your life! It enabled me to see outside of my ‘American Christian' box and motivated me to faithfully follow Christ's teachings and commands to the end of serving others in so many ways." Scott - Indiana Wesleyan University
“. . . touched every area of my life. I learned about faith, politics, and relationships and what those things should look like in my life if I take Jesus seriously." Annie - John Brown University
“. . . is challenging, amazing, safe, fun and intense. It makes you grow in every situation; the program opens up your mind to new people and stamps out stereotypes about Africa." Kim - The King's University College
“. . . is about challenging students to consider their presuppositions as they are met with people, culture, and life in the Ugandan context, widening their global perspective and encouraging intentional, kingdom living as a result." Phil - Crown College
“. . . was the most amazing four months of my college life. Studying in Africa opened my eyes to the world outside of America. Never have I met more amazing, generous people. I am returning home with a completely new outlook on life." Holly - Northwestern College, MN
“. . . broadened my view of what my responsibilities are as a global Christian citizen and forced me to go outside of my comfort zone and wholly depend on God." Kara-Eastern University
"I have had many overseas experiences, even in Africa, but the Uganda Studies Program provided various types of incredible experiential learning balanced with tough and challenging academics that gave me both knowledge and experience. My fellow USPers, Ugandan friends, trips all over Uganda and Rwanda, engaging speakers, incredible professors, and intriguing academics truly transformed my worldview and faith more than I ever thought possible." Nicole - John Brown University
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.
Washington Journalism Center
The Washington Journalism Center is an advanced, experiential semester on Capitol Hill that will cultivate professional news skills and encourage students to think through the implications of being a Christian working in news media in a city that is home to the powerful and the powerless.
Check out the WJC blog:
"The first thing I had to do was walk into my congressman's office and try to schedule an interview with his press secretary. I was terrified....By the last week in D.C., I was eating lunch with my congressman, in the congressional cafeteria, and discussing the politics of our region with him. I couldn't believe how far I had come."
-- Hannah Horton, Asbury College, Summer 2005
For more information or questions regarding Study Abroad opportunities at CU, please contact Natalie Kompik.
To apply for a CU Study Abroad opportunity, visit our applications page.