COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

The Cooperative Education (Co-op) Program provides a unique opportunity for an engineering student to complement on-campus engineering education with professional practice in industry. A participant begins sometime after the freshman year by alternating periods on campus as a full time student with periods off-campus in industry doing engineering work with appropriate guidance and supervision from practicing engineers. Depending on the individual situation, three to five work assignments may be meshed with the undergraduate academic work on a year-round basis. The Co-op student often returns to the same employer for all work assignments.

The Co-op Program allows a participating student to integrate industrial experience with formal academic training, earn a substantial part or all of remaining college expenses, gain professional practice in engineering, and try a tentative career choice at a stage when change can readily be made in the academic program.

During each work period, the student registers for one hour of cooperative education, listed under General Engineering. These hours may be used to satisfy any free elective hours in the curricula. In some cases, with the consent of the department head, a student may use an advanced course to satisfy a technical elective hour.

Normally, a student is eligible to participate in the Co-op Program after completing one year of appropriate engineering study or specific entry-level course work in the chosen area of study with a minimum cumulative grade-point average of 2.25. Further information may be obtained from either the Engineering Dean's Office, 3189 Bell Engineering Center, or from the Office of Career Services, 411 Arkansas Union.