Having full-time work experience in a relevant field is often advantageous when seeking a job after graduation. However, a regular academically oriented degree may not allow a student enough time to procure this essential experience. Of course, a student could work part-time, but the struggle for juggling work and study at once may be inconvenient and unproductive. 

Co-op degrees are based on the principle of co-operative education. It promotes the immediate application of academic knowledge to the real world and in turn allows for bringing practical knowledge from the real world into class for deepening the understanding of concepts.

Types of Co-op degrees

Different universities offer different kinds of co-op degrees.

University of Waterloo for instance offers 4 months of full-time work terms that alternate with the full-time study terms, totalling to 3 years of study and 2 years of work experience. 

On the other hand, University of Toronto offers 8 months, 12 months or 16 months co-op terms that may alternate with the work term or may be completed at a stretch towards the end of the degree. 

Advantages of a Co-op degree

• It offers students the opportunity to gain as much as 2 years of full-time work experience even before they graduate.
• Students can leverage the degree to work in different industries and figure out what they are most passionate about at a very early age. 
• Students have a competitive advantage as compared to other graduates from a non-co-op degree.
• A monotonous university experience is eliminated because students keep alternating between work and school.
• Co-op gives a chance to travel the world by working in any city or country of choice.
• Since all co-ops are always paid experiences, students can save and pay for their own degree without incurring any debt. 

How to apply to a co-op degree

For example, at the University of Waterloo,

• To apply to a co-op program, you must check the co-op box on your OUAC (Ontario Universities’ Application Centre) application.
• If you apply to a co-op program that is also offered through the regular system of study and you’re not admitted to co-op, you’ll automatically be considered for the regular program if spaces are available.
• Co-op and regular systems of study are available to all Canadian and international students.

Get in touch with our counselors at UniRely for any queries you may have about the Co-op programs. For more information about the process of applying to universities in Canada for an undergraduate degree, visit unirely.com.