The Cooper Union was founded in 1859 by Peter Cooper (1791-1883), an inventor and entrepreneur from a humble background, to provide educational opportunity to poor people in the neighborhood. Peter Cooper is said to have wanted to offer "education that was as free as the air we breathe and the water we drink." In the beginning, The Cooper Union offered adult education in night classes on the subjects of applied sciences and architectural drawing, as well as day classes for women on the subjects of photography, telegraphy, typewriting and shorthand. The Cooper Union evolved over time into the current form of a college with three schools in architecture, art, and engineering. Regardless of the changes, the tradition of tuition-free education is still going strong.
In addition to the degree probrams, The Cooper Union offers continuing education courses to the public for a fee.
The Cooper Union is currently conducting a comprehensive revision to its curricula and has proposed plans to change the usage of its real estate assets.
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Up to the class of 2006, students choose to major in the one of the four traditional disciplines (ChE, CE, EE, and ME), or customize their education by opting for the BSE degree that has fewer requisite courses and greater opportunity for elective courses.
New curricula take effect beginning with the class of 2007. Under the currently published Course Catalog, students can still choose to pursue the traditional ChE, CE, EE, and ME degree programs, but greater flexibility in course selection is being planned for the four degree programs. In addition, there are proposals to to offer students choices of "concentrations" (possibilities include Nanotechnology and Bio-engineering) that will offer groups of courses in more specific fields than the four traditional disciplines. The details of the new curricula are work in progress and therefore subject to change.
The Master of Engineering program offers a opportunity for The Cooper Union undergraduate students to obtain a master's degree with one additional year of study after completion of the bachelor's degree.
Required Courses:
In the required undergraduate electrical engineering courses, electrical engineering students learn about the fundamental concepts of digital logic, circuit theory, electronics, digital signal processing, computer architecture, control systems, communication theory, electromagnetics, integrated circuits, and electromechanical energy conversion. Juniors are guided through a series of lab experiments and assigned projects. Seniors propose their own projects and many of them participate in inter-collegial contests.
In the new tentative curriculum proposed for the class of 2007 and beyond, three tracks of specialization are offered: Computer Engineering, Signal Processing & Communications, and Electronic Systems & Materials Engineering. The tracks offer different selections of advanced courses for specialization, while sharing the same "foundation courses".
The School of Engineering
The Albert Nerken School of Engineering has about 550 students. The school offers ABET accredited Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) programs in Chemical Engineering (ChE), Civil Engineering (CE), Electrical Engineering (EE), and Mechanical Engineering (ME); a Middle States accredited Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program in engineering (BSE); and a Master of Engineering (M.E.) program.Electrical Engineering
Curriculum
The curriculum before the class of 2007 requires 135 credits for graduation and has the following breakdown of credits:
Elective Courses:
There is a strong emphasis on basic math and science courses, as well as an emphasis on developing students' expressive skills by the unusually high number of credits required by humanities/social sciences courses.Facilities
The School of Art