This study examined students’ characteristics needed by companies according to cooperative education: the case of Muang District at Suratthani Province, Thailand. The sample was 370 respondents in companies. Data collection was obtained through a questionnaire. The statistics used in this study were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation and testing hypotheses by using t-test, F-test and a chi-square. The results were found that most companies required fourth year students from state universities, majoring in business administration. Students’ characteristics which most companies needed from students the most were morality and ethics. Characteristics of entrepreneurs and companies were important and had an effect to students’ characteristics in terms of the Thai Qualifications Framework for Higher Education (TQF) and characteristics of entrepreneurs and companies were related to students’ basic information significantly at p<0.05. In addition, this study suggested that universities should focus on appropriate students’ development, particularly by developing proper curricula in order to enhance competence and readiness before working according to cooperative education with companies.