@TomSrOfBoston can surely clarify this!
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Yes, most students are paid while on co-op and do not pay tuition. Engineering and computer science majors are probably paid the most. My son, as an Econ/Biz major earned $25 and $27/hour.
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We paid ours. That was 10 years ago though.
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The vast number of coop jobs are paid, some very well. In business, CS, engineering etc. all coops are paid. Some coop jobs in the humanities and social sciences may be unpaid though. Tuition has never been charged while on coop, but if the coop job is in the Boston area (or I assume now the SF Bay Area too) the student can live on campus and will pay room and board.
A good coop job would cover the cost of living while on coop and provide spending money for the next academic term.
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My husband has supervised several Northeastern co-op students (software engineering, bay area). He was favorably impressed by the students and they always had positive things to say about their school and its programs.
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Northeastern coop students spend just as much time in the classroom as non-coop students. Academic credit is not earned for coop jobs.
What is sacrificed is free summers after sophomore and junior years.
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Yes, they are paid very well.
And yes, it doesn’t shorten the classroom time. Still 8 semesters of course work.
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You’ve got it! When DD and I visited, I directly asked in admission orientation to name for me any advantages at NE except coop.(Plus coop is not even at school. It is just built into a 4 year plan). Admission people looked puzzled and were not able to say anything. DD did not apply… I think all this hype around of Northeastern is due to location in Boston.
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Tell that to Eastern Nazarene, Ben Franklin, and Pine Manor.
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Not to mention Mount Ida. Wheelock and Newbury Colleges.
From my understanding, kids from NEU undergraduate business school can get in IB or consulting firms, but not the FO roles. Most of them end up in MO or BO. There are all sorts of jobs in GS&MS or BCG. There is huge difference between jobs in IB or consulting firms and FO jobs in those firms.
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I am not sure why you meant by “not even at school”. Why do you want to have coop at school?
What I meant, NE is not responsible for coop. The only "advantage " of NE is mandatory coop in the schedule. Student needs to find coop. NE did nothing but put it as part of the curriculum/schedule. On the other hand administration is running with it as something amazing and revolutionary…It costed them $0 and no new employees.
Co-ops are not mandatory, just built into their academic calendar so students can take advantage of it without delaying graduation. I assume co-op advisors and whoever is teaching the co-op course would be considered extra employees.
I get your point that students at other schools can replicate a co-op experience so NU is just taking credit. But a school having the structure and culture in place would be selling point. For my kid who isn’t a natural go-getter, I like that he will be pushed to get some work experience. Co-ops have been a part of NU for a long time, not just a newly discovered marketing label.
Some people see the value of an NU education and some do not. While I was researching, I just found more and more things that I liked.
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You really know very little about Northeastern and its coop operation. There is a large staff of coop advisors who work with students to develop their resume. conduct mock interviews and solicit coop positions at companies. Some of these coop positions are exclusively for Northeastern students, others are open to coop students from other colleges. Once a student has completed the prep process they get access to a large data base of coop positions in their major.
Student Co-op Process FAQs | Employer Engagement and Career Design (northeastern.edu)
Meet the Co-op Coordinators - College of Social Sciences and Humanities (northeastern.edu)
Your knowledge of the process is based on one campus visit and you went in looking for reasons to confirm your dislike of the school.
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Well, coop job is not a guaranteed handout, just no way. Even for most kids from hypsm, one still needs to hustle and grind, joining clubs, networking unless you are an absolute genius or trust-fund kid. Secondly, other schools may claim they have coop, but the coop in their definition is totally different than what NEU offers to its students. Just like what I just said above, top IB or consulting firms have all kinds of jobs, but the “quality” of those jobs is way different. Northeastern has been doing a fantastic job of helping kids land their first real jobs. Those coop positions are only for NEU kids. There is way less competition than fighting against every student under the sun for a summer internship. The “quality” of those coop jobs ( from what I noticed in undergraduate business school) may not be of top notch, but NEU will help you in the door. Just my view as a parent.
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On other hand, I also understand why those coop jobs cannot be of top notch. Unfortunately, for the same reason, it is because they are only reserved for NEU kids. Those top firms absolutely do not want to limit candidate pool to NEU only. It is two-way street. Just to be fair, NEU is amazingly helping kids get their first decent jobs left and right, probably not the most fantastic and competitive ones out there though.
How is this different from career services at any other university?
What you describe is exactly what career services in every university will do.
No it isn’t. If you cannot see the difference your student should go to a university that does not permit coop. Did you even bother to read the links?
I did and it looked to me exactly what I have seen at other places. The difference is naming convention. Career services coordinator vs. Coop-coordinator. Internship mock interview vs.coop mock interview. Coop database vs. Intenship and coop database for school x students run by career services of university x…