High-Impact Practice

Internships: Examples

MIT Practices

  • MIT’s Freshman/Alumni Summer Internship Program (F/ASIP) is a nine-month program that begins during IAP of the first year. F/ASIP is a series of two classes that teaches students the skills needed to find and secure an internship or other career-building opportunity for the summer after the first year. Participants in F/ASIP receive weekly newsletters with first-year only job postings and other summer opportunities.
  • MISTI matches MIT students with international internship opportunities in over 25 countries. Student participate in prep and training sessions before their departure.

Programs of Note

  • Mount Holyoke College provides guaranteed funding for sophomores and juniors in good academic standing to pursue unpaid internships ($3,000 for domestic internships; $3,600 for international internships). An individual student may only receive this funding one time. The goal of universal funding at Mount Holyoke was to decrease economic barriers to internship access. Students with little to no financial need are more likely to participate in unpaid internships compared to students with moderate or high financial need (Gardner, 2010). Universal internship funding has led to increased access to a first internship for students (Townsley et al., 2017).
  • Cornell Alumni Connections Program – Alumni, parents, and other professionals can volunteer to host a Cornell undergraduate student for a brief career exploration (e.g., job shadowing and informational interviews).