Internships at Emerson College
Internships allow students to apply the knowledge they gain in the classroom to a professional setting. These opportunities allow students to apply and develop skills they’ve learned in the classroom as they build upon their experiential learning.
Students may complete internships either individually or with recognition from Emerson College. Please note that for-credit internships must be completed with approval from the Career Development Center.
Before continuing, please note the following additional policies:
- Emerson students may not participate in a credit-bearing internship at a business owned or operated by a current Emerson faculty or staff member.
- A student may not use Emerson College as a host organization for a credit-bearing internship.
- Students may not receive retroactive credit.
Continue reading Emerson’s Internship Policies here.
Posting Internships
Employers looking to provide internship opportunities are encouraged to review the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71 as a start. In addition to meeting federal requirements, potential internship host sites must:
- Provide a complete job description including a defined beginning and end to the internship experience. This must include desired qualifications.
- Supervise interns with professional staff who have an educational and/or professional background in the internship’s field of experience.
- Connect the responsibilities of the internship with knowledge and skills gained in the classroom.
- Equip interns with the resources, equipment, and facilities required for the intern’s work and learning objectives.
Unpaid Internships & “Volunteer” Internships Statement
It is our expectation that all companies offering internship opportunities to our students should provide monetary compensation in exchange for their contributions to your organization, regardless of whether or not they will be receiving academic credit for the experience.
The Department of Labor mandates that for-profit companies either compensate their intern employees financially or require that they obtain academic credit for the experience. Failure to do so may put your organization at risk for litigation.
Non-Profit companies are not required by law to pay interns. We still strongly encourage those with the financial resources to consider providing paid opportunities.
Unpaid internships create equity issues and put low-income students at a disadvantage.
Internship Requirement Resources
