Benefit vs. fees: is co-op worth the price?

Nikki Gillingham // November 16, 2012

For many students, the valuable, professional experience and connections of a co-operative education program are worth every penny. For others, the amount of ‘pennies’ paid for the program is questionable.

At Mount Saint Vincent University, a school known for its co-op program, expenses for the opportunity to gain work experience before graduating range in the thousands. The Bachelor of Public Relations program includes three co-op work terms at $1,178 a piece. Each work term counts as 1.0 credit units. Hospitality and Tourism Management students, and Business students (who are not automatically entered into the co-op program, but apply in their second year), also have a co-op work term at the same price. Applied Human Nutrition has an optional ‘internship’ at $1,214.50 per credit unit for three units. A fun fact here: While the BPR, Business, and Tourism co-ops are all paid, the Nutrition internship and the upcoming Science Communication internship (which costs the same as the BPR, Business, and Tourism co-ops) are not.

Paying $1,178 to be able to go on a four month work term can seem pricey. For students who are looking forward to receiving a pay check, it can be disheartening to have an entire one (or more) go towards tuition when it seems as though you are not even in classes.

“I’m sorry,” says BPR co-op student Jessie Lawrence, “but $3,300 total? That’s a lot of money to a student […] The benefits are worthwhile, and I’m obviously paying them for a reason, but my debt load is substantial.”

Amanda Munro agrees, “I also thought the fees were outrageous while doing the program, but the benefits [are greater] than the costs.”

So what exactly are the benefits?

The Co-op Office, while unable to provide a break-down of the co-op tuition per student, provided the following list of operational costs which are partially covered by co-op tuition payments:

Professional development sessions before the student’s first work term
Return-to-campus sessions after the student’s first and second work term
Job search assistance (which includes cover letter support, one-on-one resume reviews, interview preparation and mock interviews if required, and coaching should a student chose to complete their own job search)
Work site visits, and ongoing mediation of unsatisfactory workplace situations
Post work term debriefing and grading with a faculty advisor
Development of job opportunities
Access to online job postings and job posting administration
Interview space and interview coordination (including Skype and phone interviews)
Facilitation of job offers
Student monitoring (eligibility, participation, and job search activity)
Recognition programs ( for example, Co-op student of the year)
Networking opportunities through special events and optional professional development sessions

The Co-op Office also added that, “The Co-op program is not a cost recovery program which means that the university covers some of the costs associated with the co-op component of [a student’s] degree.”

Knowing the benefits, it seems students are willing to bite the bullet and pay the high fees. Many, though, feel that there are areas in which costs could be reduced.

A third year Public Relations student, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “I don’t know if this rumour is true, but I don’t love the fact that we as students are paying the co-op office employees’ travel costs to visit students across the country. If this is happening, a bit more transparency in communicating the information would be appreciated.”

Turns out it is happening.

“’Work site visits’ include all work site visits,” the co-op office confirmed. “The visits are used as an opportunity to assess students’ performance and to build relationships with employers so they will continue to post with our program.”

“I think our co-op fees are somewhat reasonable,” said student Laura Kennedy. “…but perhaps they are going towards unnecessary things, i.e. – travel for co-op worksite visits.” Out-of-province work site visits are a major point of contention, and not just for students.

A former co-op employer, although praising the program and the care and concern of the co-op staff for students, also voiced concerns over the fees and distant work site visits.

“I was astounded when I learned the steep fee the student must pay for their co-op experiences. The fee negates a good portion of the students’ salary. Clearly such a comprehensive and successful program doesn’t come cheap but efficiencies through innovation could be achieved. Co-op office staff make it a priority to visit students and employees during their terms. For co-op terms located outside of Nova Scotia, a Skype interview is far cheaper and time efficient for the co-op office than flying and traveling…those savings could be passed on to the students.”

Besides co-op staff’s long distance work site visits, another issue raised by students is the amount of jobs and the quality of jobs being posted.

“It seems to be less and less each semester,” said a fourth year BPR student who preferred to remain anonymous.

Jessie Lawrence also pointed out, “Considering we have one of the highest co-op fees in Canada, we should have way better co-op choices.”

The BPR program was designed to accommodate 80 students and the university (not the department) did recently raise that limit. However, the number of students on work terms hasn’t reached 80 in the past three terms. The job to student ratio for Summer 12, Fall 12, and Winter 13 BPR work terms were 104:73, 86:73, and 74:54. While it may seem as though there are not enough available jobs or that they aren’t quality postings, there have been at least 13 extra jobs posted in the past three terms.

A quick search online shows how co-op fees at MSVU compare to other programs across Canada. At Simon Fraser University, the fee for a four-month co-op work term is $706.30, and includes workshops, personal consultations, ongoing support and resources. This fee is payable only when you have accepted a job and are officially registered in a work term.

The University of Waterloo offers four to six co-op work terms during a degree with a fee of $609 per work term. They also offer guidance throughout the process: before, during, and after the work term, as well as recruiting high-quality employers. 95 per cent of students on co-op find a job.

The Co-op Office, however, doesn’t find it feasible to operate at those costs, even though many students have expressed an interest in losing at least one service (in-person work site visits) in order to have a lower fee.

“Overall, any reduction in co-op tuition fees would negatively impact our ability to provide the services mentioned,” they said. “Unfortunately, given the current financial climate in Nova Scotia, It’s unlikely that tuition fees will be reduced in the foreseeable future.”

http://twitter.com/HFX_Lauren Lauren Mills

I’ve been told there are 100 students from the pr program going on co-op this coming summer.
http://twitter.com/Jessielawrence8 Jessie Lawrence

Great article!
http://twitter.com/Jessielawrence8 Jessie Lawrence

Yes, I also heard there are roughly 120 students for S13.
PR Student

I agree, excellent article.
Just noting – “Unfortunately with the financial climate in NS…” – I was talking to a Dal engineering student recently who also does three co op terms ( And makes way more per hour then any of us ever will at a co op) and his fees per co-op are just over $300.00. SERIUSLY, I know they have a lot more students but if their co op office can operate on $300 a student I think ours can operate on a little less than a grand a student.
Emily Mong

Great article – I’m sure 99.9% of aIl co-op students have cursed the fees at least once. It may be worth noting that international students pay double in co-op fees, just like any other credit received at The Mount. Also, I agree that out of province work site visits must stop. This is 2012 and a Skype call would be very efficient (and green – isn’t The Mount trying to be more green?)
Student

From talking to my current co op employer (a Mount Royal Communications Studies grad) she is always impressed that someone from the co op office flies out to Calgary each semester for in person work site visits. She said even the Mount Royal advisors, who are located in the same city, don’t come to make those impressions. However, she also pointed out that the co op fees are very steep and questioned what exactly that fee is covering. Personally I have raised that question previously to the co op office and they were unable to provide me with an exact breakdown just like above. I feel since WE are the ones paying for this service we should be able to at the very least what were paying for each time. Just like any thee course we take, we are able to see a syllabus and rubrics for the course and assignments, co op should be the same.

One of the other co op students from MUN at my job right now said that their co op fees are $300 and are OPTIONAL. Students can choose if they want to pay for their four/five work terms IF they want it to appear on their transcript.
http://twitter.com/sarahbustard Sarah Bustard

I understand where Nikki and the people mentioned in this post are coming from, but… I’m a co-op fanboy and someone who has an opinion on almost everything – hence this lengthy reply.

The fee may seems a little steep. Sometimes you travel for your co-op and on top of your co-op fee you have travel expenses, living accommodations and for me – a lot of shopping and eating to do (okay and drinking, sue me). I’m the poster child of coming home from a well paid co-op and having tripled my student debt.

I’m sure the conversation over co-op fees has come up in every class since the beginning of the program. I know my class talked about. I look at that list of operation costs and for me- it warrants the cost of the tuition. Did you know that the faculty advisor gets paid for a whole semester of work for marking projects? All the costs add up. If we want to keep getting the great experiences and resources available to us, we have to pay for it, and it’s not always as inexpensive as we want.

I learned more on my co-ops from most of the classes I took at the Mount. Media Relations- I didn’t learn in the classroom, but on my co-ops. Hell, on the first day of my first co-op I wrote a comms plan and presented it to senior management two weeks later. You can’t learn that in the classroom. I had excellence learning experiences from the quality employers that the co-op office works with.

When I graduated in May, I was unemployed, living back home with my parents and on a full time job hunt. It was rough. However, I was updating my resumes and writing quality cover letters (the co-op program taught me how to do this, and how to do it well). I was working at the beginning of June – with support from the mentor I met on my first co-op.

The year of experience I got from the co-op program was worth every single penny I paid. And if you want to get technical – I’m still paying, because of student debt. But guess what? I have a job that I credit in part to the program. Due to my experience, I’m at a pretty good pay scale, which allows me to make generous monthly contributions to my student debt.

I really didn’t like the co-op program when I first started. My first experiences with it didn’t go over well – because of my own actions, but still, I can hold a mean grudge. I thought they were uptight, the rules were too strict, and they wasted our money on worksite visits and so on. Yet, when I was having a hard time finding a third co-op, the staff emailed the employers I had applied to and asked what I could do different next time, they checked over my cover letters and helped me improve my resume (again). When my group had a not so great experience on a project, Scott, Kristen and Sonya all met with me to resolve the problem. When I was having a few hiccups on a co-op, the worksite visit helped me solve the issues- that day. I now love the co-op program.

Yes, we have to pay more than we want for co-op, more than some universities, but I’d argue that it’s worth it. I agree there are a lot of students in the program looking for “quality” co-ops, but that really just prepares you for the real world where there are hundreds of people applying for the same Career Beacon job posting. And isn’t the point of the co-op program to prepare us for the real world? I felt prepared, even a little spoiled.
http://twitter.com/JillSmithPR Jill Smith

To answer your posted question, yes I think co-op is worth the price. Like Sarah said below, I think we all questioned where our co-op fees were going at some point during our program. I do understand where the students in this post are coming from. But I think the fact that co-op is actually a class you get credit for has has been forgotten, so of course there are fees. And bonus, we are getting paid by our co-op to do the work and take our “class”!

I have a friend at Dalhousie who is in a program that requires a four week unpaid mandatory internship, her fees were more expensive than one of my co-op terms. Plus she didn’t have a co-op office helping her find a placement or work-shopping her resume and cover letters. After hearing that from her, I was very thankful for how our program works.

I think the job postings our program offers have been great. There are many reasons an employer pulls out of a co-op program – and more times than not, it’s not because of the co-op office. During my second co-op I wanted to go to a specific town in Ontario, so I did my own search. If the jobs that are posted aren’t satisfying why not do your own job search next time and find your dream job? Use the skills you’ve been taught to “sell” and market yourself to an employer and convince them they need to hire you. My favorite placement happened to be the job I found myself.

Even though I only graduated in October, I have an entire year of relevant experience on my resume. A lot of grads from other programs I’m competing with for jobs don’t – I can guarantee it’s the difference between who gets an interview and who doesn’t.

I know $3000 seems like a lot in the short-run, but looking at the long-run what you’ve learned through the co-op office and through your placement is worth more than that. It’s some of the most relevant information and experience within your degree. When you get out in the real world you’ll be the one with the competitive edge!
Laura Kennedy

In addition to my quote within the article, I do think co-op is worth the price we pay in fees when you look at all of the valuable experience we’re gaining. My main point is that while the services are great, it would obviously be wonderful to save some more money, if possible!
HMM

The part that I do not understand about the co-op fees is – okay so we pay the $1150 approximately to the university with the explanation that ours co-ops are credits, and like any other credit course, we have to pay for it. Okay so that logic makes sense – in return for our $1150 payment, we gain 2 valuable credits per co-op.

What doesnt make sense is that if this is so, why is that last summer semester of 2.5 credits, or five courses, necessary ( – some overload on other semesters instead of doing the final summer semester but it all works to mean we do much more schoolwork)?? We already get 6 credits from our co-ops alone, on top of our four full year of academic credits. Us alone without our co-ops would be eligible to graduate, as we do 8 full months of academics each year. Why all the extra credits?

So they should pick – either cut the co-ops fees to a minimal and not have it count as a credit, or give us the full price and the full credits, which could be put to graduating on time or frankly even earlier. This is something that is not the problem of the co-op office, but should be a discussion in conjunction with the co-op office and the decisionmakers of the university.
Adam Sterling

Yes, I do think that co-op is worth the price. As others have mentioned, it is worth credit and is priced accordingly. After all, the staff do need to be paid for their time. But additionally, you’re paying to get your foot in the door of places that would otherwise be closed to you.

Whether that’s through the posted jobs or even your own job search, co-op positions are valuable to organizations from both a resource and optics perspective. The vast majority of us would not be getting these experiences and building our resumes without being a co-op student.

Would I like for the fees to be lower? Certainly. Have I had my issues with the co-op office in past? Yu bet. But I am also comfortable saying that every penny was well spent.
Suzanne Bartlett

I will go ahead and mirror what Sarah and Jill said below. My roommate is in Dal Engineering, and while their co-op fees are much less, they get exactly what they pay for. What I mean by that, is that they don’t receive even close to the amount of guidance and coaching that we get (and they get a much smaller variety of jobs). It might not seem important to us as PR students, or it may just come as second nature to us as we’re writers by trade, but not everyone is capable of producing an effective cover letter. We receive credits for our time spent on co-ops, whereas many other programs, the co-op terms are in addition to their class times. They spend longer in school as a result. I don’t know about you, but in the long run, I spent the money, got in and out in 3 years (I’m a transfer student), and came out of it all with a year of experience, a shiny resume, and flawless cover letter. We have a widely recognized Co-op program for a reason.

Personally, I know that I’ve left this program with an impeccable cover letter, which I wouldn’t have produced without guidance from Kirsten, my Co-op Advisor (who has been nothing short of amazing to me throughout my time at the Mount.) I would recommend the program to anyone – in fact, I took a number of chances to advocate on behalf of the program and discuss the benefits with prospective students. I also took an opportunity to help coach other students writing cover letters in a Persuasive Writing class last year. And no offence to anyone (as my own first cover letter was horrible), but those of you who think you don’t need the co-op office to produce a job landing cover letter? You’re wrong. We need all the help we can get to stand out amongst the literal SEA of people applying for the same jobs.

I had some issues with my first co-op, and my comments and concerns were taken into account, and changes were made to reflect my comments. I influenced how future students would experience the program and that particular job posting. I have received guidance from the Co-op Office even upon completing the program. They’ve always been quick to lend a hand, and more than willing to help me now, even as a graduate. As Sarah mentioned, we had some issues with our final project, and we were immediately invited to have a sit down with the Co-op Office to discuss the problems. We were kept in the loop throughout the process, and I know that my concerns were valued.

Finally, I do agree that the trips out of province are a bit excessive, and Skype calls would definitely be more economical and green. BUT, the reason that the Co-op Office does this, is to maintain a face-to-face relationship with these employers. Students at the Mount continue to receive these job postings without competition with other universities (not the case with programs at some universities, where applicants are often competing with hundreds of other students.) The reason for this strong relationship IS the face-to-face contact that the Mount Co-op Office maintains with these employers. That being said, it might be beneficial to keep the on-site visits to a minimum (perhaps once or twice a year, rather than each semester), with Skype calls for the other visits.

All in all, the Co-op Office – Kirsten, Scott, Sonya, Kelly, and Nicole have all influenced us as students, and have helped us more than most people in our university careers (whether we choose to recognize that or not.) I think it’s unfair the amount of flack they get, as they don’t determine the price we pay or the regulations around the program. My only gripe with them is that next year, they avoid scheduling their worksite visits during fall convocation, because myself and others were upset that they didn’t get to see all their hard work walking across that stage

In the end, it’s been my experience on numerous occasions, that the Co-op Office takes feedback seriously, and actually uses it to influence the program and how it works. Don’t just vent to friends or the internet – voice your concerns if you have issues with the program. Contact the university and have your voice heard.