The College of Engineering helps students gain real-world experience in engineering. Opportunities include cooperative education, engineering internships, undergraduate research, and engineering student organizations. Cooperative education is a program of alternating full-time employment in industry and full-time study on campus. Engineering internships are usually individual, career-based experiences often completed during the summer. Students who are considering graduate school are encouraged to participate in undergraduate research for exposure to state-of-the-art research areas and to gain insight about the differences between undergraduate and graduate study. Student organizations connect students to each other and potential employers, and provide opportunities to apply their classroom skills while competing for MSU in international competitions.