The Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program is an accelerated curriculum program that will arm you with the knowledge as well as the soft skills to work in a business during your senior year.  In your first three years at WSC, you'll have the opportunity to engage with participating business partners through site visits, job shadowing, and mentorships. During your senior year, you'll move to Norfolk, Grand Island, or Columbus, where you will earn 18 credit hours by working for a business for approximately 30-40 hours a week over a nine-month period.

As part of the program, you'll be required to reside in housing in the area, which will provide you the opportunity to engage academically and socially with your peers. This portion of the program will help you connect with the community and gain an appreciation for the many exciting social and cultural opportunities available in the community. Upon graduation, the goal is for you to be hired into full-time positions in Nebraska.

To ensure you have financial support to remain focused on this program, you'll receive a scholarship ranging from $5,000 up to $15,000 per year to cover tuition, fees, room, and board. The bulk of the scholarship will be paid out during your senior year to help cover housing while you live in a participating community. The total scholarship package of is valued around $33,000* over your four years in the program.

• Freshman Year: $5,000
• Sophomore Year: $6,000
• Junior Year: $7,000
• Senior Year: $5,000 for tuition and up to $10,000 for housing

*students receiving additional WSC scholarships will be awarded the highest amount between the scholarships

Participating employers:

Businesses in Norfolk, Grand Island, and Columbus are actively being recruited to participate in the co-op program. Many have hired young professionals just like you! These employers will directly engage with you in employer panels, information sessions, site visits, job shadowing, and job interviews. Participating employers are interested in recruiting co-op students across multiple fields of study.