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CO-OP

AUC Career Center is collaborating with AUC School of Business to provide the students with the opportunity to complete a Co-op experience at one of the carefully selected host entities for the duration of six months under the supervision of one of the faculty members.  

What is a CO-OP? 

Cooperative Education (CO-OP) is a pre-graduation experiential learning course that complements the academic education in the classroom with real-world on-the-job training. The course offers students the opportunity to have long-term hands-on experience at host entities with a set of challenging responsibilities that are directly linked to the student's field of study. For employers, the program gives them the chance to meet short-term recruitment needs, spot future talent and contribute to students’ skills and career development.

Why Join the CO-OP Program?

The CO-OP program is advantageous to students as it helps them:

  • Complement their learning experience by applying what they have learned in the classroom to real-world challenges.

  • Develop their skillset through the hands-on approach and the regular feedback, they receive from both their faculty supervisor and professionals in the field.

  • Enhance their career readiness by participating in the CO-OP course, students gain long-term work experience before graduation which increases their employability and career readiness relative to their peers.


Program Features

    • The CO-OP provides a significantly longer interaction with the host entity.
    • Participating students are pre-screened by the university and are admitted to the program based on high academic achievement, strong extra-curricular activities and demonstrated work ethics.
    • A supervising faculty mentor will guide the students throughout the CO-OP journey.
    • The CO-OP is co-graded by the faculty and the employer.

  • Selected students are required to have a class standing of at least junior (third year) at the start of the CO-OP, a GPA of at least 3.2 at the time of application and are preferred to have a previous internship experience.

    The program is currently offered by the School of Business (BUS) to six undergraduate programs namely:

    1. Bachelor of Accounting (BAC)

    2. Bachelor of Arts in Economics (BA ECON)

    3. Bachelor of Business Administration in Management of Information and Communication Technology (BBA-MICT)

    4. Bachelor of Business and Entrepreneurship (B.B.E.)

    5. Bachelor of Business in Finance (B.B.F.)

    6. Bachelor of Business in Marketing (B.B.M.)

  • Students will be engaged on a full-time basis with the CO-OP host for six months and have two possible time windows; spring and summer (February – July) or fall and winter (August – January). 

  • Hosts can include multinational corporations, startups, financial institutions, governmental entities, professional services firms, think tanks, local/international economic and monetary bodies, non-profit organizations, and other entities.

    During the CO-OP experience hosts are expected to provide:

    • Challenging assignments and projects that are relevant to students’ field of study.

    • Sufficient training and supervision to the CO-OP student.

    • Reasonable monthly compensation.

    • On-site visit for the CO-OP coordinator and the faculty instructor.

    • Written evaluation of the student’s performance.

  • During CO-OP experience, students should be assigned specific tasks relevant to their fields of study providing realistic on-the-job training. Participants are then co-evaluated on key learning objectives by an academic faculty and the student’s supervisor at the host counterpart ultimately yielding a pass/fail grade. To pass the course, students must achieve at least 65%. Grade components are as follows:

    1. Student Logbook (10%): in which students report their weekly tasks and record their hours.

    2. Student Self Evaluation (20%): Students will reflect on the skills, competencies, and overall experience attained throughout their engagement at the host organization.

    3. Employer Evaluation (35%): Employers will reflect the performance of the hosted student in terms of both technical skills, work ethics, and responsibility.

    4. CO-OP Presentation (35%): Students will present their CO-OP experience to a committee of faculty instructors and representatives of the host organization.