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Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
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64 EDUCATING THE ENGINEER OF 2020

schools continue to wrestle with internal problems. As Herman
Schneider stated in a speech in 1929, “There are no two cooperative
courses the same, and different tactics have to be used in different places.
I hope there will never be two programs the same.”
As the number of programs grew, it became apparent that educa-
tional professionals could benefit from sharing ideas and concerns. In
1926, the Association of Cooperative Colleges was established; it later
became the Cooperative Education Division of what is now the Ameri-
can Society for Engineering Education. The National Commission for
Cooperative Education was begun in 1962, and the Cooperative Edu-
cation Association was formed in 1963. The World Association of Co-
operative Education started in 1979, and there are numerous state and
regional associations across the United States. Through these organiza-
tions, cooperative education programs have been able to present a united
front on many issues, particularly in the area of funding for co-op pro-
grams on campuses.
The federal government has been instrumental in providing seed
money. In 1970, Title IV-D provided a total of more than $1.5 million.
Title VIII replaced this in 1977, and by the late 1980s total grants aver-
aged about $15 million per year. By 1989, there were more than 1,000
cooperative programs in the United States with approximately 250,000
students. Later in this paper, I review the current status of co-op pro-
grams. However, I want to turn now to a brief summary of the benefits
of the cooperative education model.

BENEFITS OF COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
The Directory of College Cooperative Education Programs, put out by
the American Council on Education, includes lists of advantages of co-
operative education to students, employers, schools, and society as a
whole (Hutcheson, 1966). The benefits are summarized below (in no
particular order):

Advantages to students
• enhances classroom learning through integration of theory and
practice
• confirms or redirects career decision making

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