Co-op for Students

A co-op must provide meaningful professional experience that is aligned with your field of study. Students can complete their co-op in a variety of industries and organizations, as long as the job responsibilities are relevant to their academic program. If you are unsure whether a position qualifies, the Career Services & Alumni Relations Office can review it before you accept an offer.

No. The co-op program is mandatory at RIT Croatia and the responsibility of finding and completing the co-op rests with you. Also, you are not directly placed into a co-op position, but rather you apply and go through the same hiring process you will have once you start looking for a job after graduation (which is great practice). The Career Services Department will facilitate many co-op opportunities and help you with the search and placement procedure.

The minimum co-op requirement per single co-op block is at least ten weeks at 40 hours per week (total of minimum 400 working hours over ten weeks) for Cybersecurity, Global Business Management/IB, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Web and Mobile Computing students, and at least five weeks at 40 hours per week (total of minimum 200 working hours over five weeks) for New Media Design students.

Standard USA-based academic credit is not given for co-op.  However, you will receive a grade for a registered co-op. Based on the employer evaluation and co-op requirements, you can get two grades: “S”- satisfactory or “F”- failure. You will receive a grade “S” if the minimum co-op requirements have been met and the employer evaluation is satisfactory. You will receive a grade “F” if the minimum co-op requirements have not been met if the employer evaluation is unsatisfactory, or if the Career Services Office witnesses that during a co-op check, you are not working at your registered co-op.

Co-op positions may be paid or unpaid, depending on the employer and the nature of the position. Compensation, if offered, is determined directly between the student and the employer.

You are advised to visit the Career Services Office as soon as you feel concerned about your co-op placement. We will evaluate the co-op search, make suggestions, and provide additional service that will assist you in meeting your goals. Please make sure you address your concerns with Career Services Office at least a month before the actual co-op start date, so we can look into assisting you.

Effective for students first enrolling at RIT Croatia as of the 2021-22 academic year in Cybersecurity, Global Business Management,/IB, Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Web and Mobile Computing programs, 12 ECTS points are earned for each co-op course. For students enrolled before the 2021-22 academic year, no ECTS points are assigned to co-op. Students enrolled in the New Media Design program will receive 6 ECTS points for each co-op course.