Your Co-op experience is documented on your official academic transcripts as a “Cooperative Education” Course each semester you are out on Co-op with your employer. The course is graded Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory. If you receive an Unsatisfactory for Co-op you will not be eligible for future Co-op enrollment/experiences.
The course is available for variable credit, but most students will take the course for “0” credits. The available number of credit hours is based on whether your experience is considered Parallel or Alternating.
Access to the course is by permit only, once you have received an official Co-op offer. You will only receive this permit once your Co-op offer has been reviewed and approved for enrollment in the USF Co-op program.
Request Course Permit
To report your Co-op hire and request a permit for the Co-op course through the Center for Career & Professional Development, you will need to complete an Experience Form in Handshake (will take 2-3 minutes).
Please follow the instructions below after logging into your Handshake account:
- Click on the “Career Center” tab on the left-hand side of your screen
- Click on “Experiences”, and select “Submit New Experience”.
- For Templates, Select “Co-op Report a Hire & Course Enrollment Request”
- For Term, Select semester you are requesting a permit for
- Complete the rest of the Experience form and hit submit
- On the summary page that pops up on your screen, you will see a blue button that says, “New Attachment”. Please attach the co-op offer letter that you received from your employer. Please note that your offer letter (which can be a supplemental letter from the company) must have all the information that is listed in this sample letter.
- A member of the Experiential Learning Team will be in contact once they have reviewed your offer letter submission.
- If approved, step-by-step instructions for course registration will be sent through email.
Course Policies
Paying for Academic Credit: As Co-op is a variable credit course, you would pay for the number of credit hours you choose to enroll in. Please keep in mind that Co-op is 100% online, therefore online course fees do apply.
Choosing “0” credits: If you are registered for any other credit-bearing coursework in any semester while registered for “0” credits for Co-op you do not have to pay for the Co-op course. If you are registered for only Co-op for “0” credits and taking no other coursework in the same semester, you will be charged for one credit hour. Monitor Oasis the first three weeks of the semester for any fees you may be assessed. Failure to pay the required fees will result in an administrative hold on your account and will prohibit you from registering for the following semester or receiving your diploma.
Concurrent Academic Credit Requirement: Students are required to make progress (accumulate academic credit) toward the completion of their degree. Therefore, back-to-back Fall and Spring Alternating (full-time) Co-ops are not allowed.
Academic Performance: Undergraduate students must maintain a minimum of a 2.5 cumulative grade point average, and graduate students must maintain a minimum of a 3.0 cumulative grade point average while in the Co-op program.
Course Assignments
The assignments in the Co-op courses are designed to ensure you are reflecting on your experience as it is happening. The course assignments include, but are not limited to:
- Establishing at least 3 specific learning objectives with your supervisor at the beginning of each semester (requires supervisor’s signature)
- Mid-term update on your progress towards your learning objectives as well as other “check-in” questions about your experience up to that point
- Final report on learning objectives (with supervisor’s signature)
- Evaluation of your performance, filled out and signed by your supervisor
- Evaluation of your Co-op experience, filled out by you