Copyright © 2015 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. This study aims to prioritise the required knowledge of students participating in cooperative education (co-op) programmes, and the obtained results are applied to improve a study approach in direct response to enterprises' requirements, as well as to enhance the enterprises' human capital under the limited resources of academic institutions. In this research, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to generate a ranking of considered knowledge. The obtained priorities and improved opportunities are visualised in a simple map that considers knowledge importance and study intensity. In the case study, an academic institution still improperly manages a co-op programme. There are several areas for improvement that should be addressed. In conclusion, this study offers a new approach to enhancing the human capital of organisations participating in co-op programmes. The prioritised knowledge can be used to improve education programmes, and to optimise the limited resources of academic institutions.