Typically, Co-operative Education (Co-op for short) involves several different stints in the workplace throughout a degree. A student might spend their first 4 months in the classroom, then 4 months at a paid workplace, and then 4 months in the classroom, etc. Some programs just embrace one long (12-18 months) work placement. In either case, students ultimately spend between 25 and 30% of their program embedded in a workplace where they directly apply the material and reflect on what they learned in school.