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Artist rendering of Norfolk Aksarben Village

Career Scholars Program - Norfolk, Nebraska

Receive a generous scholarship package over four years and help grow Northeast Nebraska in this new cooperative education program. Apply by May 1, 2025, for the 2025-26 school year.

Reimagining cooperative education

Cooperative education is a method of combining classroom education with real work experience for college credit. At its core, the Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program supports workforce and economic development in Northeast Nebraska. To participate, you must be passionate about earning a degree in one of the eligible fields, and you must be committed to remain in Northeast Nebraska. Throughout the program, you'll participate in career readiness activities. During your senior year, you'll live in the downtown Norfolk area with your peers. This living experience will help you socially connect with the community and gain an appreciation for the many exciting social and cultural opportunities available in the city of Norfolk. Upon graduation, the goal is for you to be hired into full-time positions in Northeast Nebraska.

Cooperative education program benefits:

  • Receive a scholarship ranging from $5,000 up to $15,000 per year to cover tuition and housing
  • Earn college credit while getting paid to work during your senior year
  • Gain real-world experience in your career field
  • Network with businesses to find and secure meaningful employment after graduation
  • Practice skills learned in class
  • Develop relationships with like-minded students in a community living environment
  • Discover your place after college and grow into a vibrant community

Program details

Eligible fields of study:

Business Administration

Computer Information Systems

Computer Science

Criminal Justice

Education

  • Limited to certain majors

Industrial Technology

Mass Communication

Speech Communication

What you'll experience and learn

Your journey as a cooperative education student begins your freshman year at Wayne State College. During your time here, you’ll participate in career readiness activities, including business site visits and job shadowing, all while learning the fundamentals of professional practice. After three years on campus at Wayne State, you’ll complete your senior year while living in downtown Norfolk, where you’ll be hired and mentored by one of our participating business cohorts. You’ll earn 18 credit hours while working 30-40 hours per week at a paid job using skills relevant to your degree.

  Icon droparrow programs

Freshman year

  • Receive a $5,000 scholarship
  • Reside in a living-learning community
  • Team-based case study
  • Fundamentals of professional practice
  • Vital transferable skills

Sophomore year

  • Recieve a $6,000 scholarship
  • On-campus residence life
  • Professional development
  • Self-development
  • Collegiate entrepreneurship
  • Employer engagement

Junior year

  • Receive a $7,000 scholarship
  • Develop career readiness skills
  • Employer site visits
  • Job interviews
  • Senior onboarding experience

Senior year

  • Receive a scholarship up to $15,000
  • Cooperative education
  • 30-40 hours paid work week
  • Live and work in Columbus
  • Live in provided housing
  • Mentor junior cohorts

Get a full-time job earning a competitive wage by the time you graduate

Explore different employers, make money, and earn college credit while working in your chosen career field. The Growing Together Career Scholars Program offers a full-ride tuition scholarship during your senior year of college. You'll get to live in a community with your peers and friends you've already made, and you'll get to live in a town that's committed to cultivating an environment for young professionals to live and thrive.

 

"This is such an amazing opportunity, and I just couldn’t pass it up. I thought this program was important because it really gives me a head start. I knew it was going to get me ahead in life and that I’d be doing bigger and greater things - things my peers might not be doing. By my senior year of college, I will have a paying job in my field of study, which just seems incredible. I will stay in Northeast Nebraska because I will have made so many new connections. To me, Northeast Nebraska has such welcoming towns. No matter what part you’re in, it’s always so homey, and I always feel welcome wherever I go."

 

Aubree Howell

Hometown: Omaha, Neb.
Major: Business Administration (Marketing)

Artist rendering of downtown Norfolk

 

 

Together, we can grow Northeast Nebraska

Northeast Nebraska is committed to retaining its young professionals - our future workforce. The city of Norfolk has invested $40 million in its downtown riverfront toward the transformation of downtown Norfolk in an effort to help retain young people.

Growing Together Initiative

Questions? Contact:

Dr. Janet Lebeda
Interim Executive Director of Cooperative Education
[email protected]