Ron Yu, a Management Engineering student in the Faculty of Engineering, puts his passion for leadership and business strategy into practice every day. In his co-op job at Facebook Canada, he constructed a scalable revenue model, marketed to top clients and helped lead nationwide events.

In 1957, a University built around co-operative education was considered bold and perhaps foolhardy. Today, it’s a proven success and the largest program of its kind in the world.

"Co-op was amazing at Waterloo. My first term, I started at the help desk at Dow Chemical. By the end of that co-op term, I believe there were about 24 people …  reporting to me. … Co-op really taught me that hard work and dedication and passion about something you’re interested in can carry you as far as you want to go."

JOHN BAKER CEO of Desire2Learn, founded his company while a Systems Design Engineering student at Waterloo in 1999. Desire2Learn now has 750 institutional clients and 10 million users.

Waterloo co-op students Nemica Thavarajah (L) and Natalie Pulenzas, of the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, examine patient scan information while on a work term at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

"My experience at Sunnybrook went beyond what I ever dreamed of accomplishing through co-op. ... It was one thing to learn theories in class, but these concepts meant so much more after applying them to real clinical settings. Co-op definitely opened my eyes to a world of possibilities for a career in health care."

NEMICA THAVARAJAH (BSc ’14) published research on pain management for cancer patients as a co-op student with the Rapid Response Radiotherapy Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto

Work integrated learning changes everything — for students, for instructors, for employers and for our graduates.

"In the Department of Physics and Astronomy, I see how the co-op experience changes students. The first co-op job — that's where we see the first transformation. They grow into adults, learn responsibility and how to plan for their future. By the third or fourth co-op term, they become good physicists, develop good managerial, entrepreneurship and time management skills and reap the benefits of experiential learning. When they graduate, they are well-rounded physicists. This is the beauty of the co-op program."

Rohan Jayasundera (BSc ’82), Senior teaching fellow in the Faculty of Science

Lauren Hummel of the Faculty of Science gained hands-on experience in the manufacturing sector during her first- co-op work term as a production worker at Nahanni Steel Products Inc., in Brampton, Ontario.

"Students at the University of Waterloo are incredibly unique, completing up to six co-op terms in real companies with real responsibilities. They graduate knowing how companies work, how teams operate and how to add value, able to hit the ground running unlike almost any other students in the world."

Ted Livingston, Kik Interactive founder and CEO, who studied engineering at the University of Waterloo

By the numbers

• 18,300 co-op students earned $193 million working with a worldwide network of 5,200 employers
• Co-op students took part in more than 77,310 job interviews and gained real-world experience in 63 countries
• 74% of 2011 co-op grads were earning over $50,000 two years after graduation (Ontario – 39%)
• 92% of co-op students had their performance rated “very good” to “outstanding”
• Waterloo co-op students graduate with up to two years of paid work experience, a network of contacts and experience-rich résumés

Looking forward

Waterloo’s Strategic Plan includes commitments to:

• Offer all students an even broader range of work-integrated and experiential education opportunities, including research, service-based, entrepreneurship and international options
• Deepen and share our expertise and experience in co-operative education through research, publications and academic conferences
• Continue to develop co-op employment opportunities to keep pace with rapid growth in co-op enrolment

Experiential education extends beyond co-op in many programs including the aviation program, which is offered by the Faculty of Environment and Faculty of Science. Pictured here is Jomo McCormack (BES '13), who gained experience in business, climatology and geomatics, all essential for a career as a pilot.