How can a Cooperative Education Help You in College?

A cooperative education involves simultaneously or continuously engaging in both work and academic activities. In some variations of so-called co-op ed, students spend half of their days taking vocational classes and half of their days actually pursuing that vocation in the real world. In other variations of the co-op model, students alternate semesters of classroom and workplace activities.

If you're applying to colleges and universities for a liberal arts education, therefore, co-op learning may be too narrowly focused for you. If, on the other hand, you have a clear idea about how your career should progress, co-op instruction can help you leapfrog over industry counterparts. Moreover, when you sign up for co-op ed, you start generating real cash flow, which you can put towards your educational costs. Many colleges and universities offer tuition reductions and/or financial aid for students involved in co-operative ed.

Best of all, you'll make inside contacts in your vocation/field, which you can then leverage once you've left the university system. Bear in mind that some colleges and universities may not accept co-op credits or may count them fractionally. If you are applying to an array of colleges and universities as a co-op student, be sure to understand the credit acceptance policies at each one of your potential schools.

Curiously, many employers (outside the system of colleges and universities) use co-op like models to help their employees train day-to-day for their jobs. In IT sectors, for instance, where job descriptions change routinely (in some cases, monthly), employers put some of their workers on semi-permanent co-op rotations. The Armed Forces also use variations on co-op education to ready troops while simultaneously preparing soldiers with the latest data and informational tools.

So-called experiential learning is by no means new. In the middle ages, the guild system employed apprentices to learn trades and prep for the marketplace. In essence, co-op education is the vestigial remnant of that early guild system. Another striking advantage of the co-op model is that it helps students narrow focus and avoid tangential, non-directed study. While some students benefit from tangential learning, others require discipline and goal oriented scheduling.