Is it possible to visit China for the Chinese New Year during the school year?

I researched that the Chinese New year is january 23rd and I want to visit my friends during that time. however, UCLA's winter break ends January 4 and i was wondering if in college you can do make up work during the breaks or even miss school for vacationing... my plan is to do schoolwork during the break and have 2 weeks off of school to visit china.