Program Cost

• Market Carleton’s Co-op program
• Develop quality co-op job opportunities and maintain employer relationships
• Design, update and deliver COOP1000 – our course that prepares you for success in your job search and the transition to work
• Arrange and host employers on campus for information sessions, panel discussions, networking events, mock interview blitzes, etc.
• Provide job search skills and strategies including resume preparation and review, mock interviews and career advising
• Co-ordinate job postings, interview bookings, interview rooms and sending out job offers
• Assist those who want to do their own job search outside the co-op portal
• Support you on your work term with mid-term check-ins, site visits and help in resolving workplace issues

Plus, co-op fees are collected to cover the operation and administration of the co-op program – it’s the cost of doing business and is not a ‘placement fee’.

The fees you pay cover the entire cost of delivering this option to eligible students. The total program fee will vary based upon a student’s program and the number of work terms they are required to complete for their designation.

The fees are broken into administrative and work term components. Carleton University is proud to be able to offer to students the opportunity to participate in one of the best co-op programs in Canada while working hard to ensure its fee remains one of the lowest in the province.

Cost of Admin and Work Term Fees for the 2024/25 Academic Year

*Subject to approval from Carleton University Board of Governors.

Students are also responsible for tuition and incidental fees related to their academics while completing the co-op program.

There are a total of 4 co-op admin fees which are charged on a predetermined schedule.

The first admin fee is charged when a student registers for COOP1000. Registration in this course indicates that the student is now part of the co-op program and will remain so unless the student requests to withdraw or is removed for missing requirements. Your predetermined admin fee schedule depends on whether you take COOP1000 in the Fall term, or in the Winter term.

.All co-op students are required to pay all admin fees regardless of whether or not:

• co-op position is secured, and/or
• the position is secured through the co-op office or through a student’s self-directed search

Graduate students will be charged one admin fee during the first co-op job search term.

.All co-op students are required to pay all admin fees regardless of whether or not:

• co-op position is secured, and/or
• position is secured through the co-op office or through a student’s self-directed search

A work term fee is applied for each work term that you secure within the co-op program.

These work term fees are only charged once you secure a work term, and if for whatever reason you do not secure a work term you will not be charged the associated work term fee for that term

Depending on your entry point into the program, you may choose to complete more work terms than required for your co-op designation, provided that this option is available in your work study pattern. Some students choose to work this additional term that is timelined in their pattern as a way of gaining more experience and earning extra money, however you do not have to complete the additional term. If you choose to complete another work term you will be charged another work term fee, which will increase the total cost of the co-op program for you.

Depending on your work-study pattern, you may be charged an admin fee and a work term fee in the same term. This could happen if your work-study pattern needs to be altered, you entered the co-op program late, or to accommodate other necessary changes.

The overall program cost is split into admin fees and work term fees. As part of your co-op fees you will pay a total of four (4) admin fees and a work term fee for each co-op work term you secure. Students are required to complete three (3) or four (4) Co-op Work Terms, depending on the program, to receive the Co-op Designation. View program requirements.

*Please note that if you decide to complete more work terms than required for your co-op designation, a work term fee will be charged for each additional work term. This will increase the overall cost of the co-op program for you. As a reminder, you can only complete extra work terms if they are timelined in your work study pattern.

The overall program cost is split into an admin fee and work term fees. As part of your co-op fees you will pay a total of one (1) admin fee upon admission to the Co-op Program and a work term fee for each co-op work term you secure. Co-op students are required to complete two work terms of four months each, in order to graduate with the Co-op Designation.

*Please note that an optional third work term may be approved under exceptional circumstances and/or when a student has been offered an extension with his/her current employer.  If approved to complete a 3rd work term a work term fee will be charged.

Please note that all fees that were charged in previous terms are non-refundable

If you choose to drop the co-op option and have incurred an admin fee for the current term, your admin fee can be refunded provided that you drop the co-op option before the term specific deadline below

• For a co-op administrative fee charged to your student account in the fall term, the deadline to remove the co-op option and receive a fee refund is September 30^th
• For a co-op administrative fee charged to your student account in the winter term, the deadline to remove the co-op option and receive a fee refund is January 31^st
• For a co-op administrative fee charged to your student account in the summer term, the deadline to remove the co-op option and receive a fee refund is May 31^st

Please note that this only applies to co-op admin fees and not the work term fees since you cannot remove the co-op option when at work.

To withdraw from the Co-op Program please complete the Request to Remove Co-op Option form on mySuccess.  Learn how to access mySuccess forms here

Students are not eligible to draw upon scholarship/TA-ship funds during a work term period. Students must arrange for their scholarship(s) to be deferred before their work term begins.

For information regarding scholarships and any implications this may have on a co-op work term, please contact the Awards Office.

For more information on TA-ships contact the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs.

If a co-op student is receiving OSAP, please be aware that changing from a study term to a work term may result in a loan overpayment and/or a reduction of future loans. To avoid problems with student loans, keep the Awards Office up to date with any changes in status.

During a work term, co-op students may apply to keep their loans in interest-free status. Otherwise, student loans will go into repayment status after six months at work. The Awards Office is the only office on campus that can provide the documentation needed to keep a government student loan in interest-free status. These documents must be completed while registered and cannot be backdated for previous study periods or work terms.

For more information about retaining interest-free status, please visit the Awards Office web site.