Cooperative Education at Northeastern

Cooperative education or "co-op" is a program spearheaded (though not invented) by Northeastern University as a practical alternative to internships.

In the generally accepted nomenclature, a co-op differs from an internship in that a co-op is paid a nominal market wage and typically will hold an actual titled (usually junior) position at a target employer, meant to become familiar with common tasks related to an industry. In contrast an internship is a non-paid and often non-titled (other than "intern") work experience, meant to become familiar with an industry in a secondary fashion. In practice, the distinction is not always this great; for example, internships sometimes do get paid and do take on basic "real" work.

The cooperative education model was developed originally by the University of Cincinnati.

At Northeastern, co-op is an optional but highly recommended part of the curriculum. The university schedule and course offerings are arranged to accomodate cycles of students working on co-op or attending classes, in two alternating patterns ("A" and "B") which themselves alternate between pairs of two-quarter and one-quarter periods.

The Co-op department is responsible for preparing new students for their co-op stints, including job searching, resume and reference development, interview skills, etc. The department maintains its own job listing of established co-op positions, and also has close ties with the Career Services department, which can sometimes find additional positions. Students are also welcome to seek out their own co-op positions, as long as the employer agrees to comply with the program's requirements. Beyond that, there is (or was) the "experiential co-op", which is a term usually used for excursions taken for the majority of the co-op period that are deemed to have some rewarding professional value.

The inclusion of co-op into the curriculum means that most undergraduates take a minimum of 5 years to matriculate. Opting out of co-op can lower this period to 4 years or less. Attending year-round without co-op can lead to a completed bachelor's degree in as litte as 3 years, depending on major. However, these alternatives require more schedule planning, as regular course offerings are often arranged based on the co-op cycles; although students can arrange a directed-study course with a lecturer when a desired course is not available or causes unavoidable schedule conflicts.