<p>Boneh3ad, I agree that co-ops aren’t for everyone or even the majority. For those who do want a co-op experience the advantage of a mandatory co-op is that the curriculum is set up for it. Because many of the courses engineering majors are required to take are sequential, students who choose to co-op can be thrown off schedule by a semester or even a year due to a missed class or two. Larger universities which specialize in engineering have enough students that most classes are always offered, mandatory co-op schools also assure classes are available because all of their students are in the same program. U of Toledo has over 2000 engineering students. While the university as a whole is considered a tier 2 university it’s engineering program (and pharmacy) are considered very good programs. I would rank Toledo among the top four programs in Ohio behind OSU, CWRU and equal with Cincinnati which is better known. </p>