Our Cooperative Education Program gives you an opportunity to gain practical degree-related work experience prior to graduation. The program is set up so you can take a break from studies and work full-time for one or for a combination of semesters, such as spring/summer or summer/fall, allowing eight to nine months of work experience.

Computer Science co-op policy

If you are seeking computer science co-op academic credit (CS 2002), you must receive pre-approval from the departmental co-op coordinator and register for it in the semester you are on co-op for the number of credit hours agreed to by the coordinator.

For pre-approval, please submit the following:

1. COER's Co-op Registration Form
2. A copy of the acceptance letter from the company with the salary and the hours
3. Brief description of your job responsibilities during co-op

Upon completion of the co-op, you must take the following steps:

1. Write a technical paper (five and six pages, typed) with the following sections with proper headings:

• Introduction and description of the organization
• Your duties
• Your accomplishments
• Relationship between your duties and courses you took
• Lessons learned
• Conclusion

2. Have your supervisor approve the report.

3. Submit your approved report and a short bio of your supervisor to the co-op coordinator.

CS 2002 credits can only be awarded for co-ops with significant CS content. The credit hours can count only towards free electives. The number of co-op credits a student can get depends on the intensity of the co-op as determined by the coordinator. Normally one credit is granted for a semester of full-time work. The maximum number of co-op credits that may be applied to a Bachelor of Science degree is nine.