Co-Operative Education: An Introduction to Life, 1992 Engineering Conference Proceedings

Training a new engineer is becoming one of the most important and time consuming tasks established engineers must face today. Whether today’s students are less educated or not as experienced, the introduction to the real world of engineering is not initially pleasant, and engineers on both sides do not relish the process. The engineering student must confront this problem in one of several ways. One such way a student may handle the problem is to alternate school and work periods through the cooperative education program. Thus, the student gradually learns most of the expectations of engineers and many of the industrial standards before graduation.

This paper is an overview of the benefits of the cooperative program from a student’s perspective. It attempts to break the benefits down into several categories including co-op as a job, as a class, and as a loan. These categories, in turn, show how cooperative education helps the student gain experience, education, and financial help.