I think since Waterloo started the co-op 60 years ago, there are at least 30 co-op models across Canada, and they're all different. The Waterloo co-op program is unique in the sense that it is quite difficult. It's very challenging. The students in engineering, 100% of the students, must complete at least five work terms. Each work term is four months, so five times four is 20 months. Most of them complete six work terms, so they have two years of work experience before they graduate.
I do think sometimes that Waterloo makes co-op look very easy. We have to be cautious; it's more complex than just co-op. We bring in very strong students. This year we had 12,000 applicants for 1,500 seats in engineering. We had to turn away more than 2,500 students with 90% grade point average and up. It is a tremendously difficult program to get into, so we are putting in the strongest students who apply.
We also have a tremendous relationship with industry. Our co-op office is a central office manned by 150 people. Their job is to prepare the students for interviews and to make sure the jobs are truly related to the area, the discipline that they're studying. For instance, the co-op officer will go to the field to make sure that the student is not just photocopying or pouring coffee, that they really are part of the employment system. In other words, when a student in engineering goes to a company, they are treated as an employee, and the expectations are the same.
For instance, for Toyota manufacturing in Cambridge, Ontario, the former chairman was Ray Tanguay. Ray is amazing. He would spend time with each student. That's how involved they are, all the way to the top of management. They say, “Tell me what you did the last four months in exactly five minutes and one page. If your story cannot fit on the page, I don't want to hear about it.” This is amazing. Part of the education is not just about the programming. Our program is very good. It's very rigorous, but part of the education is industry teaching our students how to be a better engineer. That's the relationship. It's a commitment by the university and also industry. Our 1,700 employers seek coming back and they're extremely committed to teaching our students about their business. The business sense is fused into the student through the experience. I think that's very important.