Graduate Co-op
Offering cooperative education for over 100 years and ranked No. 1 in internships/co-ops by US News and World Report, Northeastern is a leader in experiential learning and is one of only a few that offer a cooperative education program for graduate students. Cooperative education at the graduate level is not just a way for students to gain real world experience, but it is also a way to challenge, network, expand and fine-tune their knowledge within their respective industry, and foster career development, while helping to finance their education. Northeastern also offers comprehensive career support for students. Learn more about us on LinkedIn!
Graduate Cooperative Education
The goals of cooperative education are to:
- Apply knowledge and skills in new, authentic contexts.
- Develop new knowledge and skills.
- Integrate and use the deepened knowledge and skills in your academic programs.
- Reflect on and articulate how you used your knowledge and skills, how you gained new knowledge and skills, and how theory and practice work together.
Over 1400 graduate students (primarily international students) in Northeastern’s Graduate School of Engineering were hired on co-op for their highly sought-after technical skills in positions in the U.S. and globally during the 2023 academic year. Co-op is part of the fabric of our academic program, and we have a dedicated co-op team, including a global co-op team, that prepares students for the cooperative education experience through resume building, developing interview skills and guiding professional development. Co-op positions are paid aligning with market wages. Co-op positions are available nationally and globally.
All graduate students interested in participating in co-op should take ENCP 6000 (Career Management for Engineers), ENCP 6100: Introduction to Co-op (MS students) or ENCP 7100: Career Management for PhD Engineers (PhD students). Waivers to this requirement may be granted to students who have completed an equivalent course at Northeastern or at another institution or who have worked on a full-time basis for at least two years in the United States (or in Canada for Canadian campuses only). Waivers may be requested through the Intent to Co-op form, which is distributed to students via email prior to the deadline for each semester (September, January, and May).
PhD students are permitted to participate in one co-op experience during their time at the university. This timing is very personal and should be discussed with the research advisor, who will also need to provide written approval to the co-op department. Please refer to the website for PhD students for more information and details.
Northeastern provides a broad-based network of support that helps students prepare for and get the most from co-op, including an academic advisor, a co-op coordinator, and if applicable, a global co-op coordinator. Your co-op coordinator will guide you through the co-op process and help you identify various positions that best match your skills and career interests. After you’ve completed your co-op assignment, you will be asked to reflect upon your experience and explain how it integrates with your classroom studies. The reflection process may include a variety of options such as one-on-one meetings with your co-op coordinator, writing assignments/or presentations, and online reflections throughout your co-op.
Graduate students complete co-ops that are 4, 6, or 8 months in duration in alignment with the academic semesters.
| A&P Group Abiomed Alcatel-Lucent Amazon Amazon Robotics Analog Devices ANSYS Ashland Barletta Bose Corporation Brightcove Ericsson Inc Eversource | Faith & Gould Festo Fresenius Medical (NxStage) Institute for Experiential Robotics Intuit iRobot Johnson & Johnson Lutron Mathworks Max Planck Takeda Moderna | Microsoft Meta Nuvera Oracle NetSuite PayPal Philips Piaggio Fast Forward SharkNinja Tesla VHB Vicor Wayfair WurQ |
If you are an employer and would like to learn more about the engineering co-op program, visit our Employer page.
Student Information
The information below is meant as a guide to help COE graduate students understand the co-op process. If you have specific questions related to co-op, please contact your specific department using the email addresses below.
CO-OP CONTACTS
- Bioengineering or Pharmaceutical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil & Environmental Engineering
- Electrical & Computer Engineering, Internet of Things, and Wireless & Network Engineering
- Mechanical & Industrial Engineering
- Multidisciplinary Graduate Engineering (MGEN)
- Product Development offered through the Sherman Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship Education
If you are a Robotics student with a concentration in Computer Science, please refer to the Khoury College of Computer Sciences.
MS Students are permitted to participate in one co-op experience during their degree program. All MS students who are interested in co-op should do the following in their first year:
- Enroll in ENCP 6000/6100 (there is no disadvantage to taking this course in your second semester). Review ENCP 6100 or ENCP 6000 waiver options. If you are a PlusOne student, you are waived from this requirement.
- Make achieving and maintaining a GPA of 3.2 your main priority.
Tips for International Students:
- Practice English and retake language assessment to achieve required language score, if necessary (see appropriate eligibility requirements). Expired language assessments that were submitted upon admission are accepted.
- MIE only: enroll in MEIE 6800 if interested
- Ensure you have an active i-20 and review the OGS website for CPT information
See below for an approximate timeline of participation.
| First semester | Review the applicable Graduate Co-op website(s): MS students, PlusOne students |
| Visit the Career Studio to gain feedback on your resume | |
| Begin networking by attending employer events, career fairs, club meetings, etc. DO NOT APPLY FOR ANY CO-OP/INTERN ROLES AS YOU ARE NOT YET ELIGIBLE. | |
| Second/ Third semester | Complete Intent to Co-op to declare your intentions, watch email with invitation – due first Friday of each semester · Submit language scores · Demonstrate cumulative GPA of 3.2 · Demonstrate completion or enrollment in ENCP 6000/6100 Intent to Co-op/Search submissions evaluated after submission deadline. |
| If approved, you will: · Be assigned a co-op coordinator · Carefully review and sign Co-op Agreement · Meet with co-op coordinator for resume review and begin co-op search · Be given access to NUworks | |
| If you are not successful in your first co-op search term, you need to repeat the Intent to Co-op process to search again. · Each student has a maximum of two approved co-op search periods | |
| If you do not meet eligibility: · Improve relevant aspects to reach eligibility (GPA, language scores). Contact your department if you have specific questions. Even if you meet the minimum requirements (i.e., increase language score or GPA), you are not approved to search until the next Intent to Co-op cycle. DO NOT APPLY FOR CO-OP/INTERN ROLES. | |
| Accepted a Co-op | Participate in your one co-op opportunity and complete requirements of Co-op Work Experience course. No other courses are permitted while on full-time co-op. |
| Final semester(s) | Finish degree requirements |
The following summarizes the eligibility requirements all students must meet prior to beginning to search for a co-op:
- Credit hours: Students must complete 8 SH prior to starting to search for a co-op and 16 SH prior to beginning a co-op positions. Students must have at least 4 SH remaining to complete after the co-op.
- GPA: Students must have a GPA of 3.2 or higher.
- Language (for COE Departmental students): International students must have a TOEFL score of 95 or higher (90 for ECE students admitted prior to Spring 2023), IELTS score of 7 or higher, or Duolingo English Test score of 125 or higher.
Please review the Master’s Co-op page for more information about the cooperative education program and detailed eligibility requirements.
Graduate Co-op Spotlights
Redefining an Engineering Career with an MS in Cyber Physical Systems
Jeffrey Machyo, MS’23, cyber physical systems, decided to shift gears to the embedded systems field when he was working as an electrical engineer at an electric power company in Kenya. As an engineering student at Northeastern, he completed a co-op at Desktop Metal, which gave him hands-on experience with programable devices and set him up […]
Creating a Roadmap to Global Opportunities
After completing an undergraduate degree in mathematics in her home of New Delhi, Ishpreet Kaur Sethi, MS’23, data analytics engineering, came to Northeastern’s College of Engineering to earn a master’s degree and maximize the co-op experience by working as a data analyst at the UK-based Alchemab Therapeutics. Now she is poised to pursue global opportunities. Whether […]