Co-op at Waterloo
Paid work experience
- You'll gain up to 2 years of work experience in areas such as industry, business, government, social services, or professional fields to add to your résumé.
Alternate school and work terms
- Typically, once you start the co-op part of your program, you'll spend 4 months taking classes as a full-time student and then 4 months or 8 months working full time on your work terms.
- By the time you graduate, you'll have exactly the same number of school terms as students who are not in co-op.
Maximize your degree - the Waterloo difference
- Our system of alternating work and study terms means that you'll get the total education picture. You'll find out how your classroom learning is used in the workplace, and you'll discover that what you've learned on your work term providse an extra dimension to your school work. The combination adds enormous value to your university studies.
- In contrast, other programs, e.g., internships, typically involve one year of continuous employment.
4 to 6 chances to test drive careers
- You'll have 4 to 6 work terms, and you can use them to try out a variety of careers to find out what they're like before you graduate.
Advanced networking
- You'll build contacts with employers that can lead to employment after graduation.
Earn while you learn
- You'll help finance your education. On average, by the time they graduate, our co-op students earn from $25,000 to $74,000.
Job-ready before you graduate
- You'll learn how to write a résumé, how to present yourself well at an interview, and how to conduct yourself on the job - all skills you'll need when you're starting your career.
Co-op facts and figures
World's largest co-op program - 16,000 undergraduate co-op students
- More than twice as many students as the next largest program in the world
- More resources and experienced staff to help you succeed
- Canada’s largest building completely dedicated to co-operative education and career action
3,500 co-op employers worldwide
- That's about 1,000 more than the next largest co-op program, so you'll have a huge network of employers to access when you're looking for co-op jobs.
$25,000 - $74,000 - potential co-op earnings by graduation
- Waterloo co-op students tend to have smaller student loans than other students and are more successful at paying them back.
Earn more after graduation
- Graduates of Waterloo's co-op programs typically earn 15% more upon graduation than graduates of non-co-op programs.
4 to 6 co-op work terms means 16 months to 2 years of work experience
93% co-op student employment rate for 2010-11
$136 million
- Last year's co-op students' total approximate earnings
Gain international experience
- Each year, 900 co-op students spend their 4-month work terms outside Canada
Co-op term fee
- In co-op programs, for some terms, an additional $609 fee helps to cover the administrative costs of operating the co-op program.
- You pay the fee when you pay your tuition for your school term.
- The number of terms and the timing of payments are based on which program you're in.
- Details are on the Finance Office website and in the Co-op Student Manual.
More information
- Co-operative Education and the Centre for Career Action have prepared a Co-op Student Reference Manual, which provides detailed information about the whole co-op process.
- You'll also find more information on the Co-operative Education website for prospective students.
