Washington Internship Program

Spend a semester working and taking classes in Washington D.C.! Since the mid-1970s well over 1200 Stockton students have completed internships in Washington, DC. A lot of Stockton alumni 鈥 in the Washington, DC metropolitan region and beyond 鈥 trace the trajectory of their career paths to their Washington internship experience. 

Learn more about the intern experience

Overview

The Washington Internship Program is an intensive professional and academic experience in which Stockton students live, work, and study in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region for an entire semester. 番茄社区app is affiliated with the nation鈥檚 largest internship organization, , which provides all the major facets of a student鈥檚 internship experience. TWC places our students with internships, houses them in the heart of D.C., provides program activities and professional development opportunities, and advises/supervises students throughout their entire semester. Students of all majors are welcome to explore and live in D.C. for the semester, while earning 16 academic credits! It is certainly a bit clich茅, but true nonetheless: An internship is what one makes of it. A Washington internship has the potential to be a uniquely transformative period in a student鈥檚 life. There are a great many examples of Stockton alums whose personal and professional development was immensely enhanced by their Washington internship. But it is up to each individual student to make the most of the experience. This means that students should be especially diligent in performing their internship responsibilities. They should volunteer for additional work assignments and seek out the mentorship and advice of Washingtonians who have achieved professional success. Washington, DC is a city of very prominent and powerful people. It is incumbent upon Stockton students to 鈥渞ub elbows鈥 with these folks, to learn as much as possible from them, and to emulate their strategies and philosophies for achieving success in one鈥檚 career. Click to read about Detty-Maidanove Exantus' insights on how the Washington Internship shaped her career goals.

Students should start exploring this option by reviewing the resources and program guidelines below and check out .

Why should students consider a Washington D.C. internship?

Internships significantly enhance marketability for professional jobs and graduate schools. In addition to academic credit, internships represent an invaluable opportunity to significantly enhance a student鈥檚 resume by developing professional skills, on-the-job training, and analytical tools for jobs and graduate school. Interns also acquire a broad network of contacts which can be critical in job searches, job referrals, and letters of recommendations for professional positions or graduate school.

Internships offer innumerable opportunities for personal development. A semester can profoundly (and positively) affect an individual鈥檚 growth and maturity. Many students become increasingly self-confident by successfully negotiating the demands of working at a full-time (36 hours weekly) internship; commuting to their internship job and program activities; meeting the academic requirements of their evening class; developing new friendships, enjoying the rich social and cultural life of the nation鈥檚 capital; and maintaining an apartment with fellow-intern roommates. 

FAQs

As the largest internship organization in the country, utilizes its vast network of contacts to facilitate the placement of students. There are literally hundreds of individual internship placements within the following list of internship categories:

  • US Congressional Offices; the White House, Political Campaigns
  • Executive Branch Departments & Federal Agencies
  • Nonprofit, Social Service & Advocacy Organizations
  • Federal and Local Criminal Justice Agencies & Law Firms
  • Broadcast & Print Media
  • Public Relations and Lobbying Firms
  • Museum & Cultural Institutions
  • Investment, Accounting, Marketing, and Advertising Firms
  • Foreign Policy & International Aid Organizations
  • Research Organizations in the Natural, Biological, & Medical Sciences

To be eligible to participate in , you must meet the following criteria:

  • Be at least 18 years old.
  • Be enrolled as an undergraduate student at 番茄社区app.
  • Be a sophomore or above while participating in the program and have completed at least two semesters on campus by the start of our program.
  • Maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale.
  • Have approval from Stockton's campus liaison Lexi ReGina

This depends largely on your personal and professional goals for the program. Students who hope to turn their internship experience into a possible (permanent) job offer should consider an internship during their very last semester at Stockton, so you can easily start a full-time position immediately after graduation. Other students may want real-world work experience, enhance their resume, develop professional skills, explore different career opportunities, or simply be in a new environment for a semester. For these students, any semester 鈥 starting with the second semester of their sophomore year 鈥 would be a good time to be in Washington D.C.

An important consideration is your degree requirements - does you major allow for you to be gone during your junior or senior year? If students cannot be away from Stockton during the Fall/Spring semesters, then a (10-week) summer internship may be the best option. That said, the competition for internships is especially intense during the summer. However, all Stockton students who are accepted into the Washington Center are guaranteed an internship placement; this is also true during the summer when the competition is much greater. For students who cannot do an internship at all during their undergraduate years, a post-graduate internship is also available for students who have recently graduated. 

A Washington internship is a very intensive experience. Essentially, students do the following activities in the course of a typical week:

36-hour work-week 鈥 a Washington internship should be viewed as a full-time work experience. Interns work along-side regular professional staffs at their placement sites. Internships are designed to provide real, hands-on experience and development of para-professional skills. The Washington Center requires that at least 80% of an intern鈥檚 work assignments be substantive.

TWC class 鈥 Students will choose one TWC class, which meets once a week in the evening for 3 hours (6:30-9:30pm). Like any other classs, attendance is mandatory, and interns are required to do the reading and writing assignments on a timely basis. Students will be asked to submit their top five choices for this class, and TWC typically offers between 15-20 courses each semester. TWC hires the faculty, who are professors and practitioners from the Washington, DC metropolitan region; the faculty run the class and sends a final grade to 番茄社区app. 

Colloquium and Portfolio - Each week, TWC will hold a speaker event and ask students to submit professional development materials for review and feedback. TWC will send grades for these activities to 番茄社区app, as well. 

All Stockton students earn 16 academic credits for the semester you're in DC. Of these, 8 credits are for the internship itself (WASH 3940 Washington Internship), and 4 credits are for the evening course all students take during their Washington internship (WASH 3620 Washington Seminar), and 4 credits are for the career readiness program (WASH 3300 LEAD Colloquium). Students should consult with their preceptor and/or program chair to decide 鈥 before the internship begins 鈥 where the 16 credits can be allocated. Students accepted into the program can register for these courses themselves. It is important to remember that these are Stockton University credits (not transfer credits). The grades students earn for the 16 credits are factored into their Stockton GPA. 

How does the billing work? Once a student applies and is accepted into the program, 番茄社区app handles all payments to The Washington Center for the entire internship program, including housing. The University handles billing for the internship program just like any other semester - students will be billed by 番茄社区app through the normal process and deadline schedule, and payments should go to the University's Bursar. This means that whatever financial assistance (e.g., scholarships, grants, loans) students usually receive during the Fall/Spring/Summer is applied to the program/housing fees of The Washington Center. 

What does it cost? Generally, an internship semester in Washington, DC costs about what is needed for a full-time semester at Stockton (i.e., the tuition and student fees for four courses, room and board, books, and personal expenses). The Washington Center generously provides all Stockton students a $2,550 discount off their published fees. Moreover, unlike many other institutions, Stockton does not add additional administrative fees to a student鈥檚 bill; students are billed exactly what Stockton is billed for each student. Washington Center also offers 鈥 on a competitive basis 鈥 scholarships of various amounts. In order to be considered for scholarships students need to submit their application before the 鈥淓arly Deadline鈥 for each individual semester. There is not a separate application for scholarships. Students merely have to mark the scholarship categories on the first page of the application form, in order to be considered.

What do students have to pay for in D.C.? While is provided, students are responsible for paying for their own meals and transportation costs.

Are there resources to help students pay for meals & transportation? Yes! To help defray these costs, 番茄社区app gives every single D.C. intern an $800 stipend. The stipend is generally received at the mid-point of a student鈥檚 internship semester in DC. The money can be used for commuting expenses, meals, and personal items. Washington Center also offers 鈥 on a competitive basis 鈥 scholarships of various amounts. In order to be considered for scholarships students need to submit their application before the 鈥淓arly Deadline鈥 for each individual semester. There is not a separate application for scholarships. Students merely have to mark the scholarship categories on the first page of the application form, in order to be considered. The Hughes Public Policy Center also provides a single $1,000 scholarship per semester, directly paid to students; the recipient of this scholarship is based on need as determined through the FAFSA & Financial Aid Office, with GPA a secondary criteria if there are ties.

Stockton students apply for the TWC Academic Internship Program directly through . The TWC provides an with a complete list of the application requirements and recommendations for the One-page resume, Statement of Professional Interest, and Issues Essay or Writing Sample. You are also required to list the contact information for one reference, which can be a Stockton professor or former/current job supervisor. The $60 application fee can waived with the code "TWC60". It is important to note that submitting an application to the Washington Center does not mean a student is somehow 鈥渓ocked鈥 into going to Washington. If circumstances arise that preclude a student from accepting an internship offer, their application can be withdrawn up until a student accepts an internship offer.

Once accepted, TWC handles the internship placement process; they provide to compare opportunities, and really think about what they want to do while they're in DC. They also share your resume, statement of professional interest, and reference to potential internship sites, who review your materials and schedule interviews.

TWC has , and then TWC advisors, staff, and faculty work with you on a weekly basis to support you once you're there. Check out the , with specific resources about the neighborhood you'll be living. Housing is in the . Apartments are fully furnished with two bedrooms, bathroom for each bedroom, living room and dining space, full kitchen with a dishwasher, and their own washer and dryer. Students will be provided a list of personal items to bring before the move-in (bedding, toiletries, etc.). Two students are assigned to each bedroom. The building is quite secure, interns must show their Washington Center ID to a concierge upon entering the complex. 

At Stockton, the 番茄社区app Liaison emails a list of interns to relevant campus offices and departments, to notify them of the students who will be away for a semester (e.g., Student Records, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs, the Bursar鈥檚 Office, Housing and Residence Life, etc.).

 

 

Washington Interns

Follow the Hughes Center on social media to be the first one to get updates about the Washington Interniship Program!

 

 

Contact Information

Michael S. Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Professor of Political Science and Washington Internship Program Advisor

Michael.Rodriguez@stockton.edu 

609-652-4476

Michael S. Rodriguez