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 An Overview
Cooperative Education and Internships are an academic/business strategy combining on-campus study with practical work experience. Some students alternate between periods of study in school and periods of employment in business, government and non-profit organizations. Others continue in the classroom and participate in experiential education concurrently. Both types of work–based learning experiences are planned and supervised to contribute to students' education and employability.
Formal cooperative education began at the University of Cincinnati in the early 1900s when 7 engineering students were placed in a training program that alternated one week of practical work experience with one week of instruction at the school. The program developed so well that the entire school of engineering shifted to the cooperative plan in 1920 at Fitchburg, Massachusetts, in cooperation with the General Electric Company.
Based on the success of the Cincinnati venture, other schools and colleges started programs of their own. Today many private and public colleges and universities offer programs nationwide at undergraduate and graduate levels.
Cooperative education, once exclusive to engineering students, is now available in a wide variety of college and university disciplines, including the liberal arts.
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