Your co-op fee

Co-op at Waterloo is predominately funded by a student-paid co-op fee. Similar to tuition, this fee is associated with being enrolled in a co-op program and is paid in installments throughout your time at Waterloo. The fee is paid by all undergraduate co-op students, as well as some graduate students whose co-op programs are supported by the Department of Co-operative Education (learn more about our graduate co-op programs here).

The fee represents the cost of running the co-op program at Waterloo for more than 22,000 co-op students a year. We review the co-op fee amount annually in alignment with projected future costs to determine whether an increase is needed. Factors such as service improvements, inflation and cost-of-living increases can influence the co-op fee.

We are committed to providing transparent information about your co-op fee via this webpage, where the most accurate, up-to-date information about your co-op fee lives.

If you have questions about your co-op fee, please contact our co-op student experience team!

Your 2020/2021 co-op fee amount and how it’s spent

The confirmed co-op fee amount for 2020/21 is $734. This amount represents a 0.7% increase from last year’s co-op fee of $729 as determined through our annual financial analysis and fee-setting process.

The $734 co-op fee is paid a number of times over the course of your undergraduate academic career. It is not a "job-finding fee" per work term. Instead, it represents the cost of running the co-op program and is spread out over a specific number of academic terms.

When you are charged depends on your academic program (see below for a breakdown by faculty/program). The fee is structured this way to minimize the fees you pay in any given term by spreading out the cost of participating in co-op throughout your degree.

A breakdown of this $734 fee amount can be seen below, where we’ve sorted every role and expense funded by your co-op fee into seven distinct categories of work/costs.

2020/2021 co-op fee breakdown

Co-op employment process - $59

Every term, our co-op program grows. With so many students and employers, it's critical that the core employment process functions as planned. Some key areas that are supported with this funding include:

setting up WaterlooWorks prior to the start of term, making sure it's ready for the incoming users
approving jobs and validating which clusters/levels they belong to
scheduling 99,000+ interviews each year
facilitating interview day services, including all the support for both students and employers (i.e., paging desk)
running the rank/match process and communicating the results to students and employers

Student advising, programming, resource development - $190

Student success is critical to co-op, and student advising is an important part of that process. Student advising includes, among other things:

support for all students while on any work term, first through last
resource design and development that targets the changing and emerging needs and challenges of students in diverse situations
additional support for first work term students through the Centre for Career Action (i.e. résumé critiques, mock interviews, career advising, in-house and custom workshops)
full consults, which are typically face-to-face visits, for: any students at a new employer, students on their first or second to last work term, or if it is determined a student needs a full consult based on their eCheckin responses
a focus on student success on their recruiting term from the beginning of term until employment

We know that 26% of our operating budget goes to co-op student advising, programming, and resource development expenses. We’ve broken this down even further:

6% ($44 per assessment) goes toward specialized student support
- includes pre-first work term programming and international advising
14% ($102 per assessment) goes toward work term support and advising
- all first work term and second-to-last work term students get an on-site visit
- first-time employers get an on-site visit
- provide support and help for students and their supervisors who have issues to work through
6% ($44 per assessment) goes toward general recruiting term support
- this includes students who are off-campus for any reason (such as on an exchange)

Employer relationship management - $103

With student enrolment growth comes a higher number of employer relationships. In 2019 we had over 7,100 active employers. Many of the best employers in the world hire from Waterloo, and many hire over and over again.

For the past four years, the University of Waterloo has been ranked the number one university in Canada for employer-student connections, according to the 2020 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Graduate Employability Rankings. Nurturing employer relationships is crucial to the success of our co-op program. To maintain this level of employer partnership, this funding supports:

working with employers to understand their hiring needs
facilitating info sessions for employers to attract students
monitoring jobs throughout the process to ensure they are moving toward a hire

Faculty and institutional relations - $22

Academic programming is very much aligned with the co-op program, and communication between faculties and co-op is integral. Co-operative Education must maintain strong relationships within the faculties to support 120+ co-op programs. This funding helps support:

feasibility studies for new co-op programs
program reviews for existing co-op programs
liaising and strengthening relationships across each of the six faculties and other campus institutions

New job development - $83

The University's employer network stretches across 60+ countries. Our business development team connects face-to-face with prospective employers at hundreds of events, trade shows and meetings across North America each year.

New business is a priority to ensure the growth of Waterloo co-op. This funding supports:

increasing the number of students hired as well as diversity of programs employers hire from
onboarding of new employers - this includes coaching on funding opportunities, program options, hiring procedures and effective student coaching/evaluation
using a research-based approach to explore prospective employers and industries

Infrastructure and administration - $130

Last year, more than 1.2 million co-op job applications were processed by WaterlooWorks. This led to 99,000+ interviews and 21,800+ work terms. The infrastructure and administration supports all five of the previously listed areas of work. This funding supports:

technical support for posting, interviewing and hiring
WaterlooWorks licensing and maintenance
management and administration
process improvement, pilots, and new program development
external relations (e.g., association work, delegation representations)

University central costs - $147

University central costs account for our department’s continuous access to centralized resources and services on campus. This includes overheads such as management of building and space costs (Plant Operations), employee benefits (Human Resources), access to university technology networks and tech supports (IST) and more.

These central costs are automatically deducted by the university and are not considered part of the operating budget of the co-op program.

Co-op fee by program

The number of times you pay the co-op fee varies by program. The co-op fee is a fee associated with being enrolled in the co-op program (similar to tuition). It is not a "job-finding fee" per work term. Instead, it represents the cost of running the co-op program and is spread out over a specific number of academic terms.

Below is a chart that outlines how many terms you pay the fee (per program) and what terms you pay throughout your undergraduate career. You can get an estimated total cost by multiplying today’s current fee by the number of times you pay. For example:

$734* x 8 = $5,872
$734* x 6 = $4,404
$734* x 5 = $3,670
$734* x 4 = $2,936

Note: The $734 fee amount is for the 2020/21 fiscal year only - it is reviewed annually and is subject to change. Visit the Tuition Fee Schedule on the Finance website to find out your fees based on the current term and your program.

See when and how often you pay based on your faculty and program:

Applied Health Sciences

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Public Health	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Health Studies	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Kinesiology	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Recreation and Leisure Studies	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6

Arts

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Accounting and Financial Management	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Arts and Business	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Computing and Financial Management	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Economics, Mathematical Economics	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
English (all majors)	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
History	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Political Science; Psychology; Sociology	2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	5

Engineering

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Architectural Engineering	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Architecture	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Biomedical	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Chemical	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Civil	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Computer	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Electrical	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Environmental	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Geological	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Management	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Mechanical	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Mechatronics	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Nanotechnology	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Software	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Systems Design	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8

Environment

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Environment and Business	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Environment and Resource Studies	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Geography and Environmental Management	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Geomatics	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Planning	2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	5

Math

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Actuarial Science; Actuarial Science/Finance Option; Applied Mathematics; Mathematics/Teaching Option; Pure Math/Teaching Option	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Business Administration and Computer Science (Double Degree); Business Administration and Mathematics (Double Degree)	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B	6
Computer Science	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Computing and Financial Management	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Data Science	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Mathematics/Business Administration	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Mathematics/Chartered Professional Accountancy (CPA)	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Mathematics/Financial Analysis and Risk Management	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Mathematical Physics	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8
Software Engineering	1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	8

Science

Program	When you pay	Total times paid
Biochemistry; Biology; Biotechnology/Economics; Chemistry; Earth Sciences; Environmental Science; Medicinal Chemistry; Science and Business	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Biotechnology/Chartered Professional Accountancy	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Physics; Life Physics; Mathematical Physics; Physics and Astronomy	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Materials and Nanosciences	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	6
Psychology	2B, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B	5
Pharmacy (Doctor of Pharmacy)	2A, 2B, 3A, 3B	4

How the co-op fee is determined and set each year

The co-op fee you pay today actually supports the next fiscal budget. We use a three-year model that utilizes projected revenue/expenses to determine the fee. Here is an example of process and dates used to set the current fee amount of $734.

Year one: Set fee

August-September	Perform financial analysis; includes Assessing current year financial position based on estimated budget, expenses incurred to-date and estimated expenses for the balance of the fiscal year Forecasting future years’ financial position based on estimated budget and expenses
September-October	Review and consult stakeholders about the proposed fee Special Review Group (Co-operative and Experiential Education, IAP, Finance, WUSA) Provost
November	Share proposed fee with councils and committees Co-op Ed Council (CEC) Co-op Student Council (CSC) Undergrad Student Relations Committee (USRC) Graduate Student Relations Committee (GSRC)
January	Send fee proposal to Board of Governors for review
February	Vote on fee proposal at Board of Governors meeting

Year two: Collect fee

Fiscal year from May 1 to April 30

Students pay the approved co-op fee as determined in the previous fiscal year. Frequency and total time paid depends on your program, year and sequence.

Year three: Spend fee

Fiscal year from May 1 to April 30

Fees collected in the previous fiscal year (May 1 to April 30) are used to support this fiscal budget. Learn more about how this budget is spent.