ABOUT Professional Learning

Professional learning allows you to try out the “real world” through internships and co-op programs where you can learn more about your chosen field in a work setting. Participating in professional learning activities is especially encouraged for those students who plan to seek a job immediately after graduation and want to hit the ground running.

Internships and co-op experiences offer students significant benefits. Students may:

• Explore various career directions and sample different types of jobs and companies;
• Build skills and experiences for their resumes, making it easier to secure a full-time position after graduation;
• Enjoy a welcome break from a demanding curriculum, allowing them to make money to support their education;
• Find that course work becomes more relevant, since theory makes more sense when augmented by practical experience;
• Experience a boost in self-confidence, which is projected in interviews for employment and graduate school;
• Learn about working full-time and have opportunities to become “full members of the team” by assuming more responsibilities than they would as part-time workers, and in the case of some companies such as NASA, co-ops provide a way to enter the work force with advanced standing.

What is the difference between an internship and a co-op experience? 

An internship is a paid or unpaid work position for a company, full or part-time during the school year or summer, that is not administered by the college and results in no academic credit. Internships may be arranged with the help of CU-Boulder’s Career Services or independently. 

If you are interested in an internship, please refer to the contact list on the right side bar of this page or visit the college's Engineering Internship website.

A co-op experience takes place in the context of a program administered by the college that integrates work experiences into a student’s academic experiences. Co-op work experiences are always paid, have academic requirements, and result in academic credit not necessarily applying towards the student’s degree. A student participating in the co-op will receive a certificate of participation or written acknowledgement and an official transcript entry for each experience in which the student participates. While participation in a co-op program may add up to a full year to students’ time in college, students graduate with a host of marketable skills and professional contacts.

If you are interested in a co-op program, please refer to the contact list on the right side bar of this page or visit the college's Engineering Co-op web site.

A valuable resource available to students interested in professional learning is the Career Services center on campus. The mission of Career Services is to provide a centralized, comprehensive career center for all students at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Career Services empowers students to take control of their own professional development and job search by providing access to career counseling, job and internship listings, career and internship fairs, on-campus recruiting, information resources, etc. Students can register at the Career Services website for access to Career Services On-line (CSO), which provides access to current nationwide internship and post-graduate career opportunities.