Here’s What Students Need To Know About a New Undergraduate Business Co-Op
Credit: DutcherAerials / iStock Unreleased / Getty Images- The University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business will launch a co-op program for undergraduate business students.
- That six-month, paid program will let students take a semester to work with a company.
- The school will work with students to stay on track to graduate in four years.
- The co-op program builds on a number of experiential learning opportunities at the Grossman School.
Business students want real-world experience — and the University of Vermont’s Grossman School of Business plans to take that to the next level.
A new co-op program from the Grossman School will feature six months of paid, full-time work experience, the school recently announced. Employers will start recruiting qualifying Grossman School students this fall for an initial work period from January-July 2026.
The new experience-focused program isn’t a surprise coming from the Grossman School. The school has long focused on experiential learning with internships, case competitions, career coaching, and more.
The program is funded by a $15 million gift from the Grossman Family Foundation and its namesake Steven Grossman.
Stephanie Meunier, cooperative education director at the Grossman School, told BestColleges that the co-op program will be the “culmination” of experiential learning at the Grossman School and a post-grad employment pipeline for students.
“Most of those organizations that are looking for this and invest in this are looking to convert to full-time employees,” Meunier said in the interview.
The co-op will be open to students in the Grossman School’s bachelor of science in business administration program. It will typically be available to students in their junior year after they’ve completed the school’s business core requirements, professional development series, and at least one upper-level concentration or field course.
Students will have opportunities both within Vermont and outside of the state in locations like New York and Boston, Meunier said.
The focus on business sets the Grossman School’s co-op apart from a number of other undergraduate co-op programs that focus on majors like engineering or healthcare.
While many undergraduate business programs incorporate internships or some form of real-world experience, the six-month Grossman School co-op experience is much rarer.
The University of Cincinnati, which invented co-op education more than a century ago, is one of the few other business schools that offers an undergraduate business co-op experience. Rochester Institute of Technology and Northeastern University also offer co-ops.
Meunier said the Grossman School will leverage its team’s experience with people and culture to create a “closed-loop feedback” system between students and employers.
That will mean using employer needs to prepare students to be successful in their careers, Meunier said.
Students will still be enrolled full time, but they won’t pay tuition when they’re taking part in the program because they won’t be taking classes.
Meunier said students will stay on track to graduate within four years, and they will be able to take accelerated summer courses in order to accommodate the six months of work experience.
The cost of those summer courses will be offset by the fact that they won’t be paying tuition during their co-op program.
“We are committed to maintaining that four-year undergraduate graduation rate,” Meunier said.
Students with dual enrollment or Advanced Placement (AP) classes, for instance, could satisfy some of their elective requirements and make up for the semester of a co-op without having to take summer courses.
“There are many opportunities here at Grossman for your academics and these experiential opportunities,” Meunier said. “Every student’s puzzle is going to come together and look different.”
Real-World Experience in Demand
Real-world experience is crucial to students.
More than three-quarters of recent U.S. college graduates surveyed in a recent report said they learned more in six months on the job than during their full undergraduate studies.
That Hult International Business School report found that many recent graduates wanted more workforce-ready skills.
That trend is clear in surveys of graduate students as well, with employment and return on investment being critical metrics for students across the globe.
At the same time, the human skills taught during a business education are valued by employers.
A 2024 Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) report found that skills like strategic thinking and decision-making are going to remain key for employers even amid the rise of AI.
“These core business school skills … are really what employers are looking for both today and tomorrow,” GMAC report author Andrew Walker told BestColleges in a 2024 interview.
The Grossman School offers students the best of both worlds.
Meunier said students are given career coaching from day one on campus, so by the time they qualify for the co-op program as juniors or seniors, they’ll be ready to step into the workforce.
“We get a lot of positive feedback that our students are showing up with the ability to communicate, advocate, and understand how to operate in different environments we have today, whether it’s hybrid, remote, fully in person,” Meunier said. “That’s making a difference.”