A study examined the history, practice, and quality of cooperative education (CE) in two-year colleges in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. CE proved to be firmly ingrained and widespread in Cincinnati. The most common model of CE found in Cincinnati was the "alternating" model, wherein students complete 2-6 cycles of attending school for 10-13 weeks and then work with employers for the same number of weeks. Among the numerous benefits of CE cited by students, employers, and schools were the following: CE programs allow employers to screen and "grow their own" employees; CE gives students direct knowledge about the workplace and applications of school-based learning in the workplace; and CE strengthens schools' links to employers. Although program quality remained high on employers' lists of concerns regarding CE, both employers and education providers had screening mechanisms to ensure the quality of CE programs whether they followed "alternating" or "parallel" cycles of school- and work-based learning. Cincinnati employers and education providers were found to have unspoken agreements that each would continue working to maintain a "high quality equilibrium" in which the other's expectations would continue to be met. (Contains 26 references.) (MN)