[1] Eligible competitors must either be enrolled (either full or part-time), on a brief leave of absence, or have recently graduated from an institution based in North America.

[30][31] Some members, including Liu Qinghua, Jian Zengjiao, He Jingde, Li Jing, and Jiang Bangjun, would judge the 1999 collegiates in UC Irvine.

As a result, the rules were revised ahead of the 2004 Collegiates which added a score component of 0.6 points to advanced changquan and nanquan that can consist of degree of difficulty (nandu) movements.

[35] Starting with the 2009 collegiates at Georgia Tech, Cal Wushu would begin a winning streak in the groupset and team all-around championships for a decade.

[36] One of the most famous incidents during this time period was during the 2011 collegiates at UCLA, where Keenan Stone of the University of Virginia lost his pants during his compulsory changquan routine.

[37][38][39] At the 2019 collegiates at UC Irvine, UCLA ended Cal Wushu's championship title streak in the groupset event.

[21] The quick onset of the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the 2020 Collegiate Wushu Tournament at Columbia University on very short notice.

A few months later, San Jose State University's Spartan Wushu won the bid to host the 2023 collegiates but faced several administrative issues.

The competition runs both modern and traditional wushu events across advanced, intermediate, and beginner categories for each gender.