Announcing the MIT Co-op Planning Committee

Dear members of the MIT community,

MIT undergraduates wholeheartedly embrace experiential learning. Before graduating, over 90% of students participate in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP); more than half travel abroad for an international experience; three-quarters complete an internship. This is what mens et manus looks like in practice.

Today we are writing to announce the formation of the MIT Co-op Planning Committee, a group that will explore a new avenue for undergraduates to gain real-world, hands-on learning experience. The committee will assess the potential for MIT to establish an Institute-level undergraduate co-operative (co-op) program to give students access to even deeper, longer-term industry or organizational experience before graduating. You can learn more about the goals and scope of the committee by reading the charge below.

We are grateful to Professor Olivier de Weck for agreeing to chair the committee. The list of committee members is beneath the charge.

The creation of a new co-op program is an exciting prospect, but first it will need careful assessment to ensure it benefits students and sponsors, meets MIT’s high academic standards, and is financially sustainable, among other considerations. We have asked the Committee to provide its assessment by September 30, 2026.

We thank the committee members for taking on this assignment and look forward to their report. Please reach out to co-op_committee@mit.edu to share questions and suggestions with the committee.

Sincerely,

Anantha P. Chandrakasan
Provost

Melissa Nobles
Chancellor

Glen Shor
Executive Vice President and Treasurer

Charge to the MIT Co-op Planning Committee

Members of the MIT community have expressed interest in exploring new opportunities for undergraduates in extended, structured, work-integrated learning. An undergraduate co-op program, based on a model that reflects MIT’s values and academic rigor, has the potential to yield important benefits. These include offering students deeper, longer-term industry or organizational experience than is typically possible through IAP or summer internships; strengthening MIT’s relationships with key industrial, governmental, and non-profit organizations; and further differentiating MIT’s approach to hands-on, impact-driven learning. 

A co-op program would have to be designed and implemented in such a way so that it delivers these benefits while also preserving MIT’s high academic standards and, wherever possible, on-time graduation pathways. It would also need to have a positive overall financial impact on MIT. With the foregoing in mind, the provost, chancellor, and executive vice president and treasurer charge the MIT Co-op Planning Committee with recommending whether MIT should consider an undergraduate co-op program and, if so, with developing a comprehensive framework and recommendations to pilot such a program, with a clear plan for scalability over time. 

The MIT Co-op Planning Committee will consider the following issues in its work (along with other relevant issues that arise in the course of its deliberations):

• Interest in and demand for a co-op program among current undergraduates, prospective students and families, faculty, and staff 
• Interest in and demand for a co-op program among partner organizations, as well as criteria for selecting co-op partner organizations and identification of potential organizations to participate in a pilot program
• How a co-op would differ from, and align with, existing IAP and summer internships in terms of period of time, depth of engagement, learning objectives and assessment, and integration with the curriculum and degree requirements
• Co-op time period and structure, including whether students should or could take online or hybrid classes during the co-op semester(s)
• Identification of academic units and IAP/summer programs at MIT that would be interested in being part of a pilot
• Financial models, covering student stipends and tuition, along with an analysis of the overall financial impact on MIT, as well as staffing needs
• Implications for on-campus housing, student life, community engagement, co-curricular involvement, and related issues for students who participate in a co-op

To develop its recommendations, the committee should identify and benchmark against leading co-op programs in the United States (and internationally, if appropriate), examining best practices in areas such as employer vetting and recruitment, student preparation and advising, academic integration, assessment of learning, and equity of access. In addition to the benefits, the committee should also identify and rank potential risks and downsides of such a program.

If the committee recommends that the Institute move forward with a co-op program, it should also outline a roadmap for launch and growth, including:

• A pilot phase (e.g., with a small initial number of students and departments)
• Milestones, metrics for success, and evaluation mechanisms
• A path to scale responsibly beyond the pilot, if warranted by demand and outcomes
• A governance model, including specifically where the program would be managed at MIT

The committee will prepare a written report summarizing: stakeholder input; benchmarking findings; and, if appropriate, a recommended co-op model (or models); a proposed financial and operational framework; and a phased implementation plan. The committee will submit its report to the provost, chancellor, and executive vice president and treasurer by September 30, 2026.

Committee Membership

Olivier de Weck, Associate Department Head and Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and Engineering Systems, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; committee chair

Mohammad Alizadeh, NEC Professor of Software Science and Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Brian Canavan, Registrar, Office of the Registrar, Division of Graduate and Undergraduate Education

Ray Feller, Associate Dean/Director, Student Support Services, Division of Student Life

Gene Fitzgerald, Merton C. Flemings (1951) SMA Professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering

David Friedrich, Senior Associate Dean, Housing and Residential Services, Division of Student Life

Betar Gallant, Kendall Rohsenow Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

John Horton, Chrysler Associate Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management

Angela Koehler, Charles W. and Jennifer C. Johnson Professor, Department of Biological Engineering

Deborah Liverman, Executive Director, Career Advising and Professional Development, Division of Graduate and Undergraduate Education

Rebekah Miller, Director, Corporate Relations

William Minicozzi, Singer Professor of Mathematics and Associate Department Head, Department of Mathematics

April Julich Perez, Executive Director, MISTI

Paul Pettigrew, Lecturer and Associate Director of Undergraduate Programs, Department of Architecture

Reza Rahaman, Bernard M. Gordon Industry Co-Director and Senior Lecturer, Bernard M. Gordon-MIT Engineering Leadership Program

Phiala Shanahan, Associate Professor, Department of Physics

Anoushka Tamhane ’28, Course 1-12 and 14-1

Kate Trimble, Senior Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Chief of Staff, Division of Graduate and Undergraduate Education

Chris Toro, Executive Director, Individual Giving, Office of Resource Development

Lily Tsai, Ford Professor of Political Science, Department of Political Science

Akua Yeboah ’27, Course 6-9

Jill Bassett, Chief of Staff, Office of the Chancellor; staff to the committee

Tom Kiley, Senior Advisor, Office of the Provost; staff to the committee

Janine Liberty, Communications Manager, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; staff to the committee