Our generation has ample opportunities to see the world through programs offered both by our own schools and programs outside of them, but some programs are marketed better than others.

There are a lot of benefits that can come from students completing an international co-op – like immersing yourself in the culture of a new place, or perfecting another language. So why is it that, according to the Cooperative Education website, only 179 students participated in an international co-op last year out of the 6,076 students that participated in co-op overall? And why did this number increase by only 20 students from the year prior?

This week, President Aoun spoke to Student Government Association (SGA) about the importance of students seizing the opportunity to complete an international co-op. In this increasingly global society, one can’t argue that this is a bad idea. But Northeastern needs to do a better job of advertising these opportunities to their students.

There is no shortage of students who want to study abroad. The total number of students who participate in Dialogue of Civilizations programs in a single summer semester surpasses an entire year’s worth of students taking an international co-op, even with some students being turned away from Dialogues due to lack of space. It’s not the pay – the Cooperative Education website states that international co-op pays on average about $16 an hour – which is more than a lot of domestic co-ops are offering right now.

Each individual Dialogue of Civilizations program offers an information session to students to help them decide whether or not applying will be a good decision, and most of the time, students walk away excited and eager to start their application. The same goes for semester-long study abroad sessions. The Office of International Study Abroad Programs (OISP) does a good job of promoting study abroad programs, and there is a lot of demand because of that.

Aoun told members of SGA that the best way to market international co-op is for those who have done it to share their experience. This is a start, but there aren’t enough students who have done it to begin with.

Rarely do students have an opportunity to learn more about international co-ops. Many probably don’t even know where or how to start looking. Should it be based on major? The country that you want to explore? International co-op opportunities are a foreign (no pun intended) concept to students. We all know someone who studied abroad or went on a Dialogue – it’s familiar, it feels legitimate. But how many students do you know that worked abroad? There should be more information available about this opportunity to the entire student body, not just the few who seek it out.