Which offers more hands-on learning opportunities for undergraduates: Arizona State or Drexel?

For a student who wants practical work experience built directly into the degree plan, Drexel offers the more consistently hands-on undergraduate model. Its signature cooperative education program places students in full-time, paid six-month work experiences; students in many five-year programs can complete three co-ops, while four-year options commonly include one. Drexel’s Philadelphia location also gives students access to employers in health care, technology, engineering, finance, media, and other urban industries.

Drexel fits someone who is comfortable extending college to five years in exchange for substantial professional experience before graduation. Beyond co-op, many programs emphasize applied labs, studio work, clinical training, design projects, and employer-connected coursework. The co-op structure is especially valuable for students who want to test career paths, build a résumé early, and graduate with a clearer sense of their field.

Arizona State can be highly hands-on, but the experience is more self-directed and varies more by major, campus, and initiative. ASU students can pursue research, internships, industry projects, entrepreneurship programs, service learning, capstones, and lab-based courses, with particularly strong opportunities in areas such as engineering, sustainability, health, business, and technology. Its large scale means there are many options, but students typically need to seek them out and fit them around a traditional academic calendar.

Choose Drexel if structured, repeated workplace learning is your priority and you like the idea of co-op being central to college. ASU may fit better for a student who wants broad access to projects and internships while retaining more flexibility in how, when, and how often they gain practical experience.