60th Anniversary

What Did The 60s Bring Us?

  • Were you alive during the 60s?
  • Historians see it as a time of change, a time of turmoil, and a golden age.
  • When you think about the 60s – what do you remember, or how do you view it?
Collage of 60th Anniversary
Pictured beginning top left: Donald C. Hunt, first president of CEA, President Lyndon B. Johnson signing the Higher Education Act, Cooperative Education Association Logo, Stamp from 1963, Detroit, Michigan home of CEA's first conference.

CEIA embarks on our 60th Anniversary this year!

It’s time to remember our past as we celebrate our present and future!

Some key things that happened to our profession during this time include:

  • Formation of our professional association, Cooperative Education Association, with the focus on expanding cooperative education, especially in non-engineering disciplines
  • Our first annual conference in Detroit, Michigan
  • Federal funding under Title VIII of the Higher Education Act helped the growth of co-op programs across the US. This funding also allowed the expansion of co-ops for non-traditional students in their career fields while taking classes. We also see the growth in parallel co-op opportunities
  • Schools such as the University of Cincinnati, Northeastern University, University of Detroit Mercy, and University of Akron were celebrating over 50 years of cooperative education
  • In 1961, the first National Study of Cooperative Education was completed by Jim Wilson of RIT and Edward Lyons of the University of Detroit.
  • The first two-year mandatory co-op program was established for all majors at Cincinnati State
  • Research in the field of Cooperative Education became a key element in demonstrating the success of programs, and the Journal of Cooperative Education was established in 1964