Academic Internships
What is an Internship?
An internship is a career-related learning experience that provides an opportunity for students to gain “real world” experience and to explore a variety of career fields. The academic internship program at Purchase College is designed to give students practical experience in their area of academic study or in other fields of interest. Time commitments for on-site experience typically range between 3 and 10 hours per week during the course of the semester. Credit-bearing internships are supervised both within the internship setting and by a Purchase College faculty member. Learn more about our Student Guidelines.
Academic internships may be paid or unpaid in accordance with the US Department of Labor. An internship can be both paid and for academic credit. The Career Development Center strongly encourages for-profit internship sites to offer students compensation of at least minimum wage. Non-profit organizations are also encouraged to compensate interns and if not possible to offer a stipend, travel reimbursement, or housing expenses for a summer program. Please refer to the NACE Position Statement on the need for all internships to be paid and NACE’s Guide to Internships.
Internship Registration
The summer 2024 internship deadline is Monday, July 8th.
Short Course
Students can register for an Academic Internship in the fall and spring semesters as a “Short Course.” These 1 or 2 credit internships (38 - 75 hrs. total) open for registration in October for the fall and March for the spring.
Student Guidelines
View guidelines for completing an internship for academic credit. To learn how to complete your Learning Contract via Purchase JobScore to register your internship for credit, please view our video guide.
Site Supervisor Guidelines
Learn the process for sponsoring a Purchase College student for a credit bearing internship.
Support for Unpaid Interns
Travel Reimbursement Grant
Are you spending money to get to your unpaid internship? Through the PCA/Career Development Internship Travel Reimbursement Grant, you may be eligible for travel reimbursement! Please apply here for the Travel Grant.
Purchase Academic Internship Stipend (PAIS)
The Career Development Center is excited to announce this grant-funded stipend for those students already registered for unpaid, credit-bearing internships. Learn more about the eligibility requirements and apply for the stipend here.
Internship Search Resources
Meet with a Career Counselor to discuss the type of experience you are seeking and to help you prepare to apply. Start your search with some of these resources:
Purchase JobScore - Our job/internship search system
On-Campus Internships - Internships at Purchase
WayUp - For students and early-career professionals
Handshake - Open to students from all colleges
Idealist - Internships and jobs with not-for-profits
Resources by Major/Industry - Browse our major’s pages