If you are a senior, this is the time of year you are finalizing your college list and applying to these colleges. If you are a junior in high school, you are beginning to investigate colleges and majors of interest. Most high school students (and their parents) are unaware of Cooperative Education Programs available in multiple majors at many colleges and universities throughout the United States. There are many benefits to getting involved in a co-op program. Below is a blog I posted several years ago, discussing co-op programs. Enjoy! Andi These days, the “college internship” can often be viewed as the maximum amount of real-world job experience a college student will get before graduation. In many cases internships are unpaid, and the level of work interns do is a step below the real-world experience an internship is made out to be. For too long, students were forced to accept these internships as a best-case scenario. But now they have options. And one of the best is college cooperative education programs (“co-ops” for short) – which are redefining the college work experience. A college co-op program weaves “real world” work experience into a program’s curriculum. Typically, you begin working at selected placements during your sophomore year. Each year, the workload and level of learning increases until you graduate. Co-ops are always paid positions. Always. By the time you graduate, you’ll have 18 months of experience working at a handful of positions related to your field of choice. Not only is that 18 months of wages in your pocket while in college, it’s an impressive amount of experience that a recent college graduate can boast on their résumé. More than 500 U.S. colleges and universities have co-op programs. All totaled, more than 300,000 students are working paid co-op positions. These students are getting a first-hand, boots-on-the-ground preview of their career path in a way their textbooks and professors cannot fully describe. The National Commission for Cooperative Educationreports that 60 percent of co-op students accept jobs from their co-op employers upon graduation. What’s more, 95% of co-op students find jobs after graduating. If this sounds too great to be true, you may be asking why haven’t I heard of this before, and where do I sign up? There is ONE catch you need to know before you decide if a co-op is right for you: All this extra cash and experience requires you spend an extra year in school. So, if you can get past that, here is by far the biggest benefit of co-op programs. Benefits of College Co-op Programs Co-op earnings – which range from $1,000 to $2,500 per month – are typically not included in the financial aid formula. What that means is that a co-op student filling out their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) could still be eligible for a sizable portion of financial aid. Compare that with a student working an unpaid internship and a part-time job on the side, either during the school year or in [...]

Most families do not realize there are several types of application plans offered by colleges and universities. Deciding which is best for your child, will help determine what schools to apply to, and the timelines that need to be adhered to when applying to specific schools. Before deciding on which type of application plan is right for your child, you need to thoroughly understand the difference. There are two types of application plans, Non-Restrictive Plans and Restrictive Plans. Non-Restrictive Applications Plans allow students to wait until May 1 to confirm enrollment. These include: Regular Decision is the application process in which a student submits an application to an institution by a specified date and receives a decision within a reasonable and clearly stated period of time. A student may apply to other institutions without restriction. Rolling Admission is the application process in which an institution reviews applications as they are completed and renders admission decisions to students throughout the admission cycle. A student may apply to other institutions without restriction. Early Action (EA) is the application process in which students apply to an institution of preference and receive a decision well in advance of the institution's regular response date. Students who are admitted under Early Action are not obligated to accept the institution's offer of admission or submit a deposit prior to May 1. Under non-restrictive Early Action, a student may apply to other colleges. Restrictive Application Plans are plans that allow institutions to limit students from applying to other early plans. Early Decision (ED) is the application process in which students make a commitment to a first-choice institution where, if admitted, they definitely will enroll. While pursuing admission under an Early Decision plan, students may apply to other PUBLIC (but not PRIVATE) institutions but may have only ONE Early Decision application pending at any time. Should a student who applies for financial aid not be offered an award that makes attendance possible, the student may decline the offer of admission and be released from the Early Decision commitment. The institution must notify the applicant of the decision within a reasonable and clearly stated period of time after the Early Decision deadline. Usually, a non-refundable deposit must be made well in advance of May 1. The institution will respond to an application for financial aid at or near the time of admission. Institutions with Early Decision plans may restrict students from applying to other early plans. Institutions will clearly articulate their specific policies in their Early Decision Agreement. Restrictive Early Action (REA) is the application process in which students make application to an institution of preference and receive a decision well in advance of the institution's regular response date. Institutions with Restrictive Early Action plans place restrictions on student applications to other early plans. Institutions will clearly articulate these restrictions in their Early Action policies and agreements with students. Students who are admitted under Restrictive Early Action are not obligated to accept the institution's offer of admission or to submit [...]