Founded in 1905, Missouri State University is one of the oldest colleges in the U.S., offering a wide range of Graduate and PostGraduate courses across an array of streams that include Accounting, 3D Studies, Advertising & Promotion, Administrative Management, and many others.

Gone are the days, when young students going to college had to work hard to attain an engineering degree or a medical degree for a successful career. Today,education system has changed leaps and bounds. Many programs are being introduced by renowned universities, through which a student can lead a successful career. One such course which is getting immensely popular is Cooperative Engineering Program.

Cooperative Engineering is a four year program where students can look forward to hands-on experience inside and outside of the classroom, opportunities to get involved in professional networking organizations, team based competitions, and internships in the field. The program prepares students for future careers in Civil, Electrical or Mechanical Engineering.

This program is designed to provide students with knowledge, skills and abilities to lead and manage effectively. This program prepares students for a high skill, high demand, high growth, and high paying career. The Cooperative program is a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience.

Now,the question arises why Cooperative Program?

A cooperative education experience, commonly known as a‘co-op’, provides academic credit for structured job experience. Cooperative education is taking-on new importance in helping young people to make the school-to-work transition. This program provides students with the practical experience along with classroom knowledge which helps them to find jobs much easier than other students.

Cooperative learning falls under the umbrella of work integrated learning (alongside internships, service learning and clinical placements) but is distinct, as it alternates a school term with a work term in a structured manner, involves a partnership between the academic

institution and the employer and generally is both paid and intended to advance the education of the student. Today quite a few renowned colleges and universities in U.S. and some other countries are offering this program.

The Cooperative approach provides several distinct advantages. This cooperative engineering program emphasizes a broader range of courses and ideas than traditional engineering. If a student is not totally dedicated to engineering, then he/she will have the opportunity to explore a number of liberal arts and science programs while maintaining the option to continue your studies in the engineering field. By opting to go for cooperative program, a student has the option of delaying the decision to pursue engineering for as period of three years. Graduates with both a liberal arts & sciences degree and an engineering degree may have a decisive advantage as candidates for employment in engineering as well as in other fields.

Through Cooperative Engineering, students can look forward to hands-on experience inside & outside of the classroom, opportunities to get involved in professional networking organizations, team based competitions, and internships in the field

A few examples of the fields of engineering from where a student can opt for cooperative engineering are Applied Chemistry, Applied Geophysics, Applied Physics, Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Environmental, Electrical, Computer, Mechanical, Industrial, and Aerospace to name a few.

Who are eligible to opt for Cooperative program?
Most students participate in the Cooperative program at the start of their Junior year but all students levels are eligible to apply for this program after completing a minimum of two semesters of college. CO-OP positions are available in most UG college disciplines, especially engineering, business natural science and mathematics.

Students must be in good academic standing within their college, enrolled fulltime to the semester prior to participating in CO-OP, and enrolled fulltime the semester after participating in the CO-OP program if the student is not graduating.

Cooperative Engineering program has really made life a little easy for students who for some reason are not able to fully concentrate on their regular engineering program. It opens alternate career option for them and does not become hindrance in completing the engineering program which a student is already pursuing. Now, students do not need to ponder as hard for career options.