Southern University School of Architecture (SUSA) is one of four schools of Architecture of over one hundred in the United States, which has an integrated mandatory Co-op Program. The program co-ordinates an introductory practicum in a professional architect's office following the second year of the students’education and paid employment in architects’ offices or related fields during the summers following their third and fourth years. This experience "jump starts" students' professional careers by guaranteeing that they have as much or more 'professional experience' upon graduation, than the average architecture graduate, making them more competitive for entry level positions upon graduation.

SUSA Co-op integrates the academic curriculum with requirements of the nationally regulated Internship Development Program (IDP). This integration is advantageous for both students and employers; it clearly defines the skills which Co-op students have acquired in order to match them with the skills employers request of summer employees to make them most useful to the office. In a competitive marketplace, it is the goal of SUSA Co-op to prepare students to become an employer's "number one choice"!

While SUSA  Co-op will certainly be able to co-ordinate the placement of summer students 'close to home', our goal is to develop jobsites which will enable students to travel on workterms to work in firms in major American cities and international destinations. In the SUSA Co-op community, every job experience an individual student acquires becomes a 'shared experience' when the student comes back to school.

Southern University has a twenty-five year history of excellence in Cooperative Education. The university Co-op office (of which SUSA Co-op is a branch) places more than 350 students per year, mostly in the fields of Engineering, Computer Science and Business. SUSA Co-op officially began with the incoming class of 1998. Supported in its beginning years by a grant from Funds for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education (FIPSE), the original aim and the final  goal of SUSA Co-op is to increase the percentage of African American students who become registered architects. In aiming to accomplish this task, the implementation of the program will ensure all of its graduates will be prepared for the workplace.

All students who decide to attend SUSA must be committed to the SUSA Co-op program and to spending the summers after third and fourth year 'working in the field'. With its mandatory professional experience requirements, SUSA Co-op is committed to ensuring that all students will graduate with the confidence and experience to become excellent professional architects.