Co-op earnings - United States employers

Co-op students must be paid at least the minimum wage of the applicable work location. Connect with your account manager if you have questions or are looking for further guidance.

United States (U.S.) hourly earnings information

The University of Waterloo publishes co-op student earnings information annually. The following information is student-reported earnings from January - December 2023. 

In the table, the top figure represents the average hourly earnings for the given co-op program and work term level. The low and high hourly salary range is included below the average hourly salary. 

This information is only a guideline. Use it for informational purposes only and along with known market conditions. Our Co-operative Education team does not establish or recommend pay levels for co-op students. 

All U.S. work term figures reported in hourly U.S. Dollars (USD)
Faculty or program Work
term 1		 Work
term 2		 Work
term 3		 Work
term 4		 Work
term 5		 Work
term 6

Faculty of Engineering

(All ENG programs including Architecture, Software Engineering)

 $21.47 USD
(average)
Low:$15.73
High:$37.50		 $30.54 USD
(average)
Low:$16.00
High:$55.00		 $33.48 USD
(average)
Low:$18.00
High:$56.25		 $35.85 USD
(average)
Low:$17.00
High:$62.50		 $42.25 USD
(average)
Low:$18.00
High:$67.00		 $42.06 USD
(average)
Low:$16.25
High:$80.00

Faculty of Mathematics

(All Math programs including Computer Science and Computing & Financial Management)

 $30.27 USD
(average)
Low:$30.26
High:$46.00		 $41.19 USD
(average)
Low:$20.00
High:$75.00		 $43.11 USD
(average)
Low:$18.71
High:$72.00		 $41.95 USD
(average)
Low:$17.00
High:$67.88		 $47.52 USD
(average)
Low:$18.50
High:$85.00		 $46.42 USD
(average)
Low:$21.00
High:$75.00

Note: While students from all faculties completed co-op work terms with US employers, only those with sufficient sample size have been reported. During 2023 some students worked for US companies from a remote location in Canada. Although not physically located in the US, these jobs have been counted as US employers.

Other co-op earnings information