This study provides a perspective of history for the future development of cooperative education and describes in detail the philosophical basis upon which cooperative education was established. Five defined periods of the growth of cooperative education are discussed: the early establishment of cooperative education in the seven colleges prior to the First World War the growth and diversification between World War I and the Depression; the difficult test of the Great Depression and World War II; the expansion after World War II and the organization of cooperative education; and the unprecedented growth in the last decade prior to 1972. Recommendations for the future are included with an examination of the statistics of their growth and their implications for further development. The appendices contain charts and maps which illustrate the development of cooperative education at some 300 colleges in the United States and the bibliography contains over 200 entries. (Author/MJM)