The ECE Department supports and encourages students who wish to participate in the CSE Co-op Program. A co-op is a full-time paid work experience that extends over two semesters. In contrast, internships usually take place over the summer months and are shorter in length. Co-op students often get more responsibility and more in-depth projects due to the extended nature of the work experience. Students usually find that this type of in-depth pre-professional experience is valuable once they start looking for their first post-graduation professional engineering position.

Co-op positions get posted through CSE Career Services, and students can search for co-ops through Handshake. More information about how to search for co-ops is available on this webpage. Sometimes students can find a position listed as an internship and turn it into a two semester co-op if the company is willing to help. Companies are no longer required to pay a fee for hosting co-op students which is a beneficial change that started with the 2021-2022 academic year. Many companies are not aware of this change, and students should not hesitate to ask a company about turning an internship into a six-month co-op placement.

Students who participate in the CSE Co-op Program can earn a total of 4 credits toward their degree. The credits count in the "additional technical electives" area of the student's EE or CompE degree program. Students are required to take the co-op-related classes CSE 4896 (2 credits) and CSE 4996 (2 credits) during their co-op placement. The courses are designed for working students and complement the professional work experience.

Students can apply to do a co-op placment as a Spring/Summer experience or a Summer/Fall experience. In many cases, a student may have to extend their graduation timeline to do the co-op.

If you would like to learn more about fitting a co-op experience into your degree program, make an appointment with the ECE Academic Advisor!

• Co-op Program: Website for the CSE Co-op Program.

• Major-Specific Info: Great preliminary information of how CompE and EE students can incorporate co-op courses into their academics.