Cooperative studies

go to a list of cooperative Master's studies 

Are you planning to start working after your Bachelors? Or you have already started with your career, but still want to study? How about continuing your education and obtaining a Master’s degree while working? If you want to pursuit Master’s degree and a career at the same time, you might want to choose a cooperative study.

Theory and practice 2 in 1 

Graduated Bachelor students often choose a cooperative degree when they want to gain both theoretical and practical experience in the field of their Bachelor’s study. Usually, students go directly from Bachelor to Master and find a job as a part of their Masters education itself.

It’s crucial that your job occupation is tightly connected to the subjects you study in the classroom, because the main purpose of the cooperative degree is to connect theory with practice.

Cooperative studies in Europe

The cooperative system is widespread in Europe; although, mostly in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Croatia, Serbia, Switzerland, Portugal and others. Finding an appropriate company, which would cooperate with your university, might depend on the country and on the popularity of the cooperative study form there. Big companies, but sometimes also small ones, provide very often vacancies for cooperative degree students.

What would your study/work schedule look like?

Cooperative degrees are usually studied as full time Masters programmes and have the same duration – in most cases 1 or 2 years. You can study technical, economic or social work related Masters as a cooperative degree. However, subjects like arts and humanities aren’t usually offered in this form.

The study/work schedule might vary, depending on the study programme, university or on the characteristics of the field. You might study half of the week and work the other half, or spend some months exclusively at the university and work during the vacation.

Pros and cons of the Cooperative studies

Advantage of the cooperative form of study is that you will gain a work experience and you will be more competitive on the job market. The company you work for during your Masters might also offer you a full-time position after your graduation. One of the pros is also the financial part – the costs for cooperative study are comparable with those for full time Masters, but will also be awarded with a salary from your employer.  A disadvantage is that you will have much less free time, as you would probably need to work during the vacations.

Take a look at the following study programmes, offered as a cooperative degree!