Graduates from the University of Waterloo are the second most frequently hired group in Silicon Valley, second only to graduates from Berkeley, writes David Matthews of Times Higher Education, and one of the biggest reasons for this success is the fact that uWaterloo is home to the world’s largest co-op education program. Matthews cites data from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario to show that students who access co-op education report higher levels of satisfaction with their education and lower levels of student debt. Other Canadian universities are now ramping up their efforts to create more co-op placements for students, although Matthews also notes that “the work of maintaining relationships with large numbers of employers and coordinating placements is huge: at Waterloo it takes 150 staff occupying an entire building on campus to manage the cooperative effort.” Times Higher Education