Uniting the Ivory Tower and the Smokestack: Co-op Turns 100!

When the previous century was young – in 1906 to be exact – an equally youthful educator at the University of Cincinnati built a tenuous bridge between education’s ivory tower and industry’s smokestack.  He sent 27 untested engineering students into turn-of-the-century mines and mills to see what lessons they’d learn from the paid positions he’d arranged for them.

So, UC began what’s known around the world – in 43 countries at last count – as “Cooperative Education,” a timeless practice of transforming youth to experience. 

Today as we approach the 2005-2006 school year, hundreds of thousands of students studying everything from accounting to urban affairs continue the ever-expanding educational experiment – which was once defined in Webster’s unabridged dictionary as “The Cincinnati Plan.”  Using the classroom as their home base, co-op allows students around the globe to alternate quarters or semesters spent in school with paid, professional experience related directly to their majors, just like those first UC students. These co-op terms are sequential, each one adding ever-advancing layers of professional responsibility linked back to classroom lessons. In other words, co-op means a salary well earned and academics well learned.

Further action is required to make this image accessible

One of the below criteria must be satisfied:

  • Add image alt tag OR
  • Mark image as decorative

The image will not display on the live site until the issue above is resolved.

Related Stories

1

Machine learning brings new insights to cell’s role in...

April 30, 2025

Researchers led by the University of Cincinnati’s Anna Kruyer and the University of Houston’s Demetrio Labate have published research in the journal Science Advances applying object recognition technology to track changes in brain cell structure and provide new insights into how the brain responds to heroin use, withdrawal and relapse.

2

Most teens prescribed SSRIs did not have recommended follow-up...

April 30, 2025

The University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center's Martine Lamy commented to Medscape on new research that found fewer than half of the adolescents prescribed a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) at two large Chicago pediatric primary care clinics had a follow-up visit within the recommended 6 weeks.

Debug Query for this