Internships and Co-Ops

Abstract

<p>In the context of higher education, the terms <i>internship</i> and <i>cooperative education program</i> (co-op) refer to the integration of some form of workplace experience within a student's program of study. Internships and co-ops differ substantially from student's extracurricular part-time or full-time income generating work activities because they are focused on the attainment of learning outcomes, rather than payment for work. The terms <i>internship</i> and <i>co-op</i> are sometimes used interchangeably to refer to a variety of work experience programs. However, substantial longer term work experience activities (e.g., full-time work activities for the duration of a semester) that are systematically embedded in a higher education program are often referred to as <i>co-ops</i>, while the term <i>internships</i> is often used to describe smaller scale work placement or experience activities (e.g., part-time or fulltime work activities for the duration of several days or weeks) or substantial longer term work experiences similar to co-ops. Both internships and co-ops may represent a compulsory component of a students' higher degree program or an elective.</p>