Students for hire

Ronald Toll's first college internship scraping barnacles from boat hulls wasn't exactly the dream job he expected when he was studying to become a marine biologist.

But as provost and vice president for academic affairs at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Toll has something entirely different in mind for students today: a full-time paying job for six months in their field of study.

Dubbed “Co-op 6,” the program seeks to connect companies in Southwest Florida with students for six months of gainful employment. “The idea of a co-op program is an internship on steroids,” Toll says.