"Cooperative education helps students beef up their résumés and earn some money during college: two welcome prospects in tight economic times," The Chronicle of Higher Education reports. "But it also means that college doesn't provide the usual escape from the realities of the job market. About 100 colleges in the United States offer co-op programs, in which students intersperse periods of work with on-campus instruction. The jobs are paid, but students also get academic credit for the work. That model can give co-op students advantages when they look for full-time jobs after graduation. But while they are still in college, the economy touches them more directly than it does most other students."