March 2001

Students Flock to Co-op Program
By Jim Karpen

A master’s degree, virtually guaranteed job placement, and no money up front—these features of the master’s- level cooperative (co-op) programs at Maharishi University of Management are bringing in waves of students.

Currently over 100 students are on campus taking classes in the pioneering computer science co-op program. And applications continue to stream in. This extraordinary success has spurred new offerings—all in areas where jobs are plentiful.

Generally students are on campus for eight to ten months of full-time intensive study. They are then placed in salaried positions throughout the United States where they complete their degree over the next year via distance education. Typically they take an additional year of curricular practical training. Students pay the cost of tuition, room, and board out of their earnings.

Naturally, the competition for entry into these programs is stiff, and the University is attracting a worldwide pool of applicants. Entrance requirements are rigorous, typically specifying high scores and grades, professional work experience, and an undergraduate degree in a related field.

On the heels of the successful computer science co-op program, the University started programs in Web design and human-computer interface, both feeding the demand for professionals fueled by the Internet revolution.

The Web design co-op students dive deeply into the graphic and artistic aspects of designing sites for the Web. They develop their skills in diverse areas, including Web page layout, typography, video and 3-D animation for the Web, HTML and JavaScript coding, and web server configuration.

The computer interface specialist is an expert in Web navigation and knows, for example, what colors are picked up more easily by the eye and where the attention goes in regard to the shape and placement of objects on a screen.

Now in 2001, three new programs are being launched: an MBA in Electronic Business, an M.A. in Teaching with an emphasis in math education, and an M.S. in Applied Physics with an emphasis in devices and systems for wireless communications.

In the new MBA, students take eight courses in e-commerce and management information systems and are then placed in businesses. For the following two years they will take additional courses via distance education, and also receive credit for curricular practical training.

Courses in the electronic business MBA include electronic commerce, Internet and network technologies, data-base management systems, designing Web interfaces, systems analysis and design, Internet marketing, electronic payment systems, and electronic business strategy. The curriculum also includes topics such as improving organizational performance, managing organizational change, and leadership.

Those enrolled in wireless communications study topics such as semiconductor physics as it relates to devices and integrated circuits, microwave fields, communications systems, experimental methods and statistics, and statistical design for quality control.

Students in the math education program will help meet the huge demand for high school math teachers in the U.S. They take a standard curriculum of theory and pedagogy courses, including educational psychology, teaching methods, classroom strategies, hypermedia, human relations, and topics in Consciousness- Based education, culminating in a student teaching assignment.

This first year of the curriculum will lead to licensure, and then students will be placed. They will receive their MA in teaching after completing the second year of the program.

All of these programs not only offer marketable skills, but also provide through Consciousness-Based education the most practical skill of all—transcending— helping them to be healthier, happier and more integrated individuals. Students report that the Transcendental Meditation technique gives them an edge in their job interviews. Recruiters from top companies often marvel at their brightness and alertness.

A Computer Science Co-op graduate from Nepal recently summed up his experience: "The knowledge I gained has helped me a lot in my personal growth, and I believe will help me throughout my life."

Jim Karpen is director of the Professional Writing program at Maharishi University of Management in Fair-field, Iowa