Cooperative Education (Co-op) and Internship Program
Overview
- Paid Co-ops and internships foster equitable access to opportunities and career success; although not all are paid, we advocate for paid opportunities [pdf]
- Provides students opportunities to enhance career-readiness competencies
- Gives students the opportunity to gain supervised, professional, real-world, experience in their field of study, while working toward a degree
- Applies classroom theory to a realistic work setting
- Provides a mutually beneficial relationship among an organization, SIUE, and a student
- Provides numerous benefits [pdf] to both students and employers
- Students have an opportunity to explore their career path prior to graduation
- Employers can preview talented students who are studying the most recent technology
- Offers transcript recognition for qualifying major-related experience (zero-credit, no tuition or fees)
- Qualifies as Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for International Students
- Scheduling, coordination of major-related work, and pay should be determined by the student and employer
Earn TRANSCRIPT Recognition
First you need to report the experience by following the instructions below:
- Login to Cougar Jobline using your E-ID and password
- Click on "Experiential Learning" on the left side of your page
- Click on "+New Experience" and enter the required information
- "Submit for Approval"
- The Career Development Center will then email you with more information
See Forms, Orientation, Deadlines, and How to Participate for more information
Curricular Practical Training (CPT) - International students
International students eligible to work off campus are required to participate in CPT to obtaining work authorization, and completing paperwork with the Career Development Center is one of the required steps.
- Contact International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) to discuss eligibility and enrollment requirements.
- Contact the Career Develoment Center to discuss the internship or Co-op work experience and to complete required paperwork pertaining to the major-related position. You will be asked to login to your Cougar Jobline account and report the "New Experience." Once your experience has been reported, you will be provided more information.
- Students will not be authorized to work until paperwork has been completed and processed by ISSS and the Career Development Center.
- Deadlines dates posted on the Co-op/Internships Deadlines page are firm.
If you will be receiving credit hours for the internship through your academic department, you must complete paperwork for ISSS, the Career Development Center, and your academic department. Contact Dr. Taylor at tammtay@siue.edu for more information.
Features of a High Impact Internship, Co-op, or Experience
Students - Take every opportunity to make the most of your major-related experiences. Experiences that meet 8 key features of rigor are considered High Impact, and those are the experiences students perceive to provide the most benefits (Kuh et al., 2017).
Employers - If you have questions about how to make your experience High Impact, please contact Dr. Tammy Taylor at tammtay@siue.edu for more information.
Types of Experiences and Major Differences
Co-op
- Always paid
- Usually for 2 or more academic terms
- May be part-time or full-time
- May work full-time every other term (or no more than 2 terms back-to-back), alternating between full-time work assignments and full-time enrollment in school - This is called an Alternating Co-op
- May work part-time, year-round while attending school full or part-time - This is called a Parallel Co-op
- In-depth project opportunities, ongoing major-related experiences, and significant exposure to field of interest
- Qualifies for "Curricular Practical Training" (CPT) for International students
Internship
- May be paid or unpaid
- Usually for 1 academic term (60+ hours)
- Usually part-time
- Project opportunities, major-related experiences, and exposure to field of interest
Micro-internship
- Usually paid
- Duration from a few days to a few weeks (40+ hours)
- Does not need to coincide with entire academic term dates
- Single project-based, major-related experience
Guidelines for Participation
- Employers and positions must be approved by the CDC for transcript recognition and approval is at the sole discretion of the Career Development Center
- Co-op and internship courses are for zero academic credit hours and are for transcript recognition only
- Students will always be encouraged to pursue required and/or optional credit-bearing internships within their department first
- If interested in academic credit, students must contact their respective academic department for more information
- Positions considered for transcript recognized Co-ops and internships must be major-related and be determined to enhance the academic and career pursuit of the individual student
- Co-op positions are always paid and are generally for 2 or more academic terms; internships are generally for one term and may be unpaid, micro-internships are project-based, paid, and for shorter durations
- Minimum GPA requirements for the Co-op and Internship program are a 2.0 required for undergraduates and a 3.0 required for graduate students
- Students must have remaining credit-bearing coursework requirements to participate
- Co-op courses provide full-time enrollment status at the University for the purposes of health insurance, housing, or loan repayment. Internship courses do not provide full-time enrollment status
- Required paperwork each term - Paperwork requirements are subject to change
- Students should carefully read all documents presented by the employer
- Employers may not ask students to sign non-compete agreements
- Employers may not ask students to pay fees to participate in the experience
- Employers should have traditional commercial locations and company-based email addresses such as name@company.com
Explore our Co-op resources to learn more or contact us for more assistance.
The Career Development Center coordinates internships for students in a variety of academic programs. Students should contact the CDC formore information.
