Curriculum Overview
NOC is academically neutral — students can earn the same number of units as a regular semester at NUS. Internship courses, entrepreneurship modules, and a reflection course count toward your degree.
The NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) internship programme offers selected NUS undergraduate or postgraduate students a unique opportunity in entrepreneurship education at more than twenty different locations: Silicon Valley and New York in the United States, Toronto-Waterloo in Canada, Shanghai, Beijing, and The Greater Bay Area (Guangzhou & Shenzhen) in China, Stockholm in Sweden, Munich in Germany, Nagoya in Japan, Singapore and Southeast Asia (Indonesia — Bandung, Jakarta & Yogyakarta, and Vietnam — Hanoi & Ho Chi Minh City).
Students selected for the programme will do internships at innovative start-ups in the world's leading entrepreneurial hubs. At the same time, they will be taking classes at reputable and prestigious universities — Stanford University, University of Toronto, Fudan University, Peking University, South China University of Technology (SCUT), Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Universitas Indonesia, Vietnam National University-HCMC International University, Technical University of Munich, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), and others.
Students who need to check with their own faculties regarding course mapping can refer to the list of faculty facilitators.
The NOC programme is designed to be academically neutral, which means a participating student can earn an equivalent number of units to a non-NOC semester. There are three durations of the NOC programme:
Component 1
Up to 32 units, depending on the duration of the NOC programme.
Up to 32 unitsComponent 2
Up to 8 units, depending on college and partner university course offerings.
Up to 8 unitsComponent 3
For 6-month and 12-month programmes only — until NOC AY25/26 Sem 1 (Aug 2025) intake.
2 unitsStudents typically join the NOC programme in their 5th &/or 6th, or 6th &/or 7th semester. All selected NOC students are required to spend at least one regular semester in NUS upon their return from the programme.
CDE/SoC students undertaking NOC internships (from NOC AY2014/15 Sem 2 onwards) that are relevant to their discipline or major — involving intensive technical design, research, development, or experimentation work, plus analysis of product, idea or service viability — may apply and seek approval from their faculty/department to collectively use NOC internship courses to fulfil degree major requirements:
For students admitted from AY2015/16 onwards, NOC courses can fulfil either Programme Requirements or Unrestricted Elective (UE) requirements. Mapping or substitution of any NUS course with another course taken under NOC must be submitted to the respective faculty for consideration and approval.
Table A · For NOC AY2019/20 Sem 2 intake onwards
| NOC Component | Units (Max) | Programme Requirements | Unrestricted Elective Courses (UEC) |
|---|---|---|---|
| TR3201N / ETP3203L Entrepreneurship Practicum (8 units) or TR3204S/T / ETP3204S (4 units) | 4/8 | 4/8 # | 4/8 # |
| TR3202N/S/T / ETP3201L/S Innovation & Enterprise Internship (12 units) or ETP3206L (16 units)* | 12/16 | 12/16 # | 12/16 # |
| TR3203N/T/P/E / ETP3202E/L/P/S Innovation & Enterprise Case Study & Analysis | 8 | 8 # | 8 # |
| ETP2271 Discovering Resilience and Purpose — until NOC AY25/26 Sem 1 | 2 | — | 2 |
| Entrepreneurship Courses | ^8 | — | 8 |
Students who have taken a specific TR/BSN/BSP course at BIZ prior to joining NOC may be precluded from taking the equivalent course under the NOC programme.
Table B · Preclusions for entrepreneurship courses under NOC
| BIZ Course Taken (Course Code / Title) | Preclusions under NOC | |
|---|---|---|
| NOC Course Code / Title | Partnering University Course Code / Title | |
| TR2201 Entrepreneurial Marketing | NUS TR3003 / ETP3251 | MS&E271 Global Entrepreneurial Marketing (NOC Silicon Valley) |
| TR2201 Entrepreneurial Marketing | NUS TR2201 | MS&E271 / MANA130006 Marketing Management (NOC Shanghai) |
| TR3001 New Product Development | NUS TR3001 | MANA130058 New Products Development and Management (NOC Shanghai) |
Internship Outcome. Students are expected to complete a minimum of 3 months (for short NOC) or 6 months (for year-long NOC) of internship with their assigned startup. Students who are unable to fulfil the required internship duration may be required to extend their NOC stint or make alternative arrangements as approved by the NOC office.
Engineering Scholars Programme (E-Scholar). E-Scholar students on NOC will have their NOC internship courses mapped as approved electives. E-Scholar students should consult their faculty advisors and the NOC office prior to departure to confirm the mapping.
Enrolment in NUS courses outside of the NOC curriculum list. Students who wish to enrol in NUS courses outside of the approved NOC curriculum list must obtain prior approval from the NOC office. Such courses will be reviewed case-by-case and are subject to scheduling and capacity constraints at the partner university.
Break photo · NOC student in actual coursework setting at a partner university — pivots reader from universal rules into the per-location detail below.
Click a location to open its curriculum tables, programme notes, and grade requirements in a side panel.
For CDE and SoC students, the specific internship courses that can be mapped to your degree are listed on a dedicated page.
Confirm your faculty's mapping with the NOC office before applying if you have specific credit constraints.