Relationship between cooperative education and early employment outcomes

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between cooperative education (co-op) and the early career outcomes of graduates at Missouri University of Science and Technology, a science and technological research university in the Midwest. The study's primary purpose was to provide university leadership with a quantitative evaluation of the university's co-op program to determine the program's effectiveness regarding post-graduation employment outcomes. The study data on 2008 to 2010 graduates included student level information such as major, GPA, citizenship, gender, and ethnicity/race, as well as job attainment and full-time annual starting salary at graduation. In addition to descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), logistic regression, and multiple regression analysis were used to investigate the relationships between cooperative education and early career outcomes. Results from the investigation showed significant differences in co-op participation across student-level characteristics. Further co-op participants were found to have a higher likelihood of having secured employment at graduation and have higher starting salaries.