A common question asked by Co-op Ed students beginning their Cooperative Education experience is "How many hours do I need to work for each credit required for my degree?"

The general requirement is 50 work hours per credit for Cooperative Education. These hours can be obtained at the selected work site or can be reduced by participating in the Weekly Online Seminar.

Most students have two credit options for fulfilling Co-op Ed requirements:

     - 30 hours of work per credit WITH participation in the weekly Online Seminar.

     - 50 hours of work per credit WITHOUT the Online Seminar.

30 Hours/Credit Option: This means that credit is awarded at the rate of one credit for every 30 hours of work during the academic quarter. For example, a student taking a three-credit Co-op-199 class must work 90 hours over an 11-week academic quarter. That averages out to 8.27 work hours per week. Students choosing this option must also participate in a weekly online seminar facilitated by the Co-op Ed Coordinator. The Co-op Ed Online Seminar is offered utilizing the Blackboard Learning System. Each week, the Co-op Ed Coordinator will post a general discussion question. Students are expected to respond to the question and to interact with other students participating in the seminar. Specific directions about when to login and "post" will be on the Blackboard site. 

50 Hours/Credit Option:  This means that credit is awarded at the rate of one credit for 50 hours of work during the academic quarter. For example, a student taking a three-credit Co-op 199 class must work 150 hours over an 11-week quarter. That averages to out 13.6 work hours per week. Students choosing this option will not be required to participate in the online seminar as part of the reflective writing component of the class. Instead, they will write a mid-term paper about their work experience about halfway through the quarter. 

Note: If you are taking a subsequent quarter of Co-op Ed and have previously completed the Weekly Online Seminar, you may elect to stay with the 30-hour option WITHOUT repeating the seminar. However, you will STILL need to comply with Mid-Term Paper requirements.