Swimming course in Southwest University for Nationalities is not compulsory, but optional. In general colleges and universities, swimming is an optional course. According to personal preferences, those who are willing or like can sign up for study, and those who are unwilling are not forced. China universities that take swimming as a compulsory course include Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University, China Renmin University, Xiamen University, South China University of Technology, Shanghai University and Zhejiang University.

Elective courses refer to courses arranged by students themselves in the teaching plans of various disciplines and majors in colleges and universities, as opposed to compulsory courses. There are restricted elective courses and unrestricted elective courses. The former refers to courses taken within the prescribed scope, such as taking a certain number of courses in a specified number of courses or taking a certain number of courses in a specified number of courses; The latter refers to the courses that students can choose freely without restriction.