UC s Rising Co-op Numbers Part of a National Trend

At the University of Cincinnati, the number of jobs held by students who participate in cooperative education is at a historic high – having risen 23.5 percent over the last five years.

UC is not the only school to experience a rise in co-op participation. Schools in the United States and Canada are reporting similar trends, though the drivers behind this trend are varied. (SCROLL DOWN to view a list of schools and figures regarding growth each has enjoyed related to co-op.) 

At UC, co-op’s growth is tied to overall enrollment growth and more outreach and advising regarding co-op’s benefits. At other schools, growth is linked to new offerings to students, greater integration of co-op into curriculum and greater overall emphasis on experiential learning.

Growth, overall, is also tied to the economy. For instance, Peggy Harrier, interim association executive for the Cooperative Education and Internship Association, stated that co-op enrollment always rises in a challenging economy.

According to Cheryl Cates, UC associate director of Professional Practice, and director of the Center for Cooperative Education Research and Innovation, "When economic conditions worsen, students do realize their need for an edge in the job market." She added that employers are increasingly interested in co-op due to demographic constraints. As Baby Boomers leave or plan to leave the job market, employers want to make sure they are getting the pick of young workers to replace them.

Edith Katz, coordinator of the Institute for Cooperative Education at Concordia University, echoed, "The war for talent is definitely on."

Paul Stonely, CEO of the World Association of Cooperative Education, Inc., points to a number of statistics within his organization that support this claim. They include

• A "War for Talent" international symposium that WACE holds for multinational companies each year experienced a dramatic rise in participation this year. For the past nine years, about 100 business executives have participated each year. This June, the symposium attracted almost three times the number of business executive participants. This past June, the symposium drew 280 executives.

• WACE also offers an annual training program for universities, designed to assist schools in beginning or augmenting co-op efforts. That training program doubled in size this past year. For the past three years, 30 participants took part in that training. This summer, that number jumped to 60. 

• The number of U.S. students applying for National Commission for Cooperative Education scholarships has jumped by 45 percent in the last year alone, going from 2,400 applicants to 3,100 applicants. In the past eight years, the NCCE has gone from giving $10,000 worth of scholarships to $5 million in scholarships. (These scholarships go to high school seniors pursuing a college cooperative education program.)

Schools reporting a growth in students’ co-op participation

• The just-completed 2007-2008 academic year saw more than 3,000 University of Cincinnati students placed in 5,258 co-op jobs (up nearly 25 percent over the last five years). It’s the largest number of jobs ever worked (in a single year's time) in UC’s co-op program, which is the world’s oldest co-op program. UC founded the practice of co-op 102 years ago. The students’ collective earnings last year came to $35 million, also a historic record for any one year. 

• At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, co-op placements for students have grown year by year since 2003. For instance, the 2004-2005 academic year saw 7.8 percent growth in placements compared to the year before. In the years since, growth has risen by at least 20 percent each year. Most recently, the 2007-2008 academic year saw a 28.5 percent increase in placements compared to the year before.

• Co-op participation at Auburn University has increased 14 percent in the last five years. In that same period, earnings by co-op students there have risen by 24.5 percent from $4.9 million to $6.1 million.

• The University of Buffalo’s engineering program has seen a 26.3 percent rise in student co-op participation over the last five years.

• Clarkson University in Potsdam, N.Y., is gearing up to see a 500-600 percent increase in co-op numbers due to a new requirement mandating a professional experience for students prior to graduation.

• Concordia University in Montreal has seen similar growth as that enjoyed by UC.

• Drexel University in Philadelphia has seen 25 percent growth in undergraduate student participation in co-op since 2004-2005. That year, 3,670 undergraduates there participated in co-op. This coming 2008-2009 school year, 4,570 are expected to do so.

• Student participation in the co-op program at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, Ky., has grown by 27 percent in the past five years. In 2002-2003, students there earned a collective $1.2 million. In 2007-2008, EKU students earned a collective $5 million. 

• Holy Family University in Philadelphia reports a 74 percent increase in internship and co-op participation between spring 2007 and spring 2008, due to greater outreach to students.

• The University of Louisville’s engineering program has seen a 46 percent increase in student co-op participation in the last five years. Collective earnings for engineering students there were $4.2 million in 2002. That figure stood at  $7.6 million in 2007.

• Northeastern University reports a 12 percent rise in co-op participation by students over the last five years. Within the institution's College of Arts and Sciences, the growth has been even more dramatic, rising 64 percent over the past five years.

• While co-op participation in Northwestern University’s engineering program in Chicago has held steady over the past five years, the number of students enrolled in a newly combined internships/co-op program nearly doubled between September 2007 and May 2008. In September 2007, 250 students were enrolled in the combined program. By May 2008, enrollment had grown to 468 students.

• Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., reports 100 percent growth in its co-op program which has gone from 250 student participants to 507 student participants over the last five years. Last year, students there earned a collective $870,000.

• The University of Wisconsin at Madison has seen modest 4 to 5 percent growth in student co-op participation over the last five years.

• The University of Wisconsin at Stout has seen a 92 percent increase in students’ co-op participation from the 1998-1999 school year to the 2006-2007 school year. In 1998-1999, the school had 420 students participating in co-op. In 2002-2003, that number stood at 610, and in 2006-2007, that number stood at 805. In 2006-2007, co-op students there earned a collective $6.7 million

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