Co-op defined
Co-operative Education will give you a deeper, richer educational experience, real-world work experience, career connections and employment income during work terms. Co-op allows you to alternate career-focused work terms with study terms and receive special co-op degree designation upon graduation.
Benefits of co-op
Learning
Alternate study and work terms to apply what you learn in class to real-world work situations and then apply what you learn at work to your classroom studies. Learn more about your career options by test-driving different work environments before you graduate.
Experience
Enter the job market with the distinct advantage of practical work experience thanks to the work terms completed during your co-op experience.
Networking
Make vital connections and build rapport with employers and colleagues on your co-op work terms. Many co-op students receive full-time job offers from their co-op employers.
Income
Co-op work terms are paid work terms. Employers pay competitive wages and sometimes relocation expenses. Paid work experience means your employer will expect a high level of productivity and professionalism of you, but you will also learn more as you work on projects that directly contribute to the bottom line of your employer.
Who can apply?
Students who are highly-motivated, professional, able to relocate for employment (70% of co-op jobs are outside of HRM) and meet CGPA requirements for their program are eligible to apply to co-op.
Learn more about eligibility and how to apply
Co-op fees
The co-op program has additional fees which, depending on the number of work terms completed, total $1800 or $2200 over the course of the program. Our co-op fees remain among the lowest in the country and only cover half of the costs of delivering the program, the other half of which is born by the university.
Co-op is great because it provides valuable industry experience that isn't reproducible in a classroom setting. In my case, the term I spent on a Microsoft internship lead directly to a full time offer before I had even finished school.”
- Leah Brown, Computer Science Co-op Graduate (Honours)
Classes give you the hard skills, but they don’t give you the people skills…co-op is that perfect balance between education and actually working.”
- Alex Harding, Electrical Engineering Co-op Student, 3M National Student Fellow 2014
The second best decision of my life was co-op. The first was to come to Dal.”
- Amy Devereaux, Biology Co-op Student
