Ask the Career Counselor: Internship Funding

Today's question: I applied for a great internship, but it's unpaid and I need to make some money. Where can I look for alternative sources of funding?

Answered by: Susannah Krenn, Tufts Career Services

This is an issue that comes up frequently in my conversations with students. Ideally, every internship would offer some form of compensation! Unfortunately, we know that this isn't the case. For starters, I encourage students to meet with a career advisor to talk about their individual questions related to internships and funding.

Important reminder: Before you commit to an unpaid internship, think about how you'll navigate the funding issue. Assuming you'll be able to find funding after you've accepted a position may result in disappointment.

Here are a few strategies to consider when looking for internship funding:

• First, check with your prospective supervisor to see if he/she knows of any funding opportunities offered by the organization. You could also ask him/her to put you in touch with past interns so that you can contact them about strategies for managing an unpaid internship.
• If possible, think about accepting an unpaid internship on a part-time basis. Many students adopt this "hybrid" plan: working part-time as an unpaid intern and part-time at a paying job. Internships, activities, and volunteer positions positively add to resumes and self-knowledge, whether they're full-time or part-time.
  
• Talk to your department at Tufts. Sometimes departments offer funding for research or other work experiences.
• Network! Talk to family, friends, supervisors, and professors to get ideas for how you could obtain funding or raise funds on your own.
  

As you may have guessed, funding providers (especially those external to Tufts) generally expect their recipients to work with a certain organization, for a specified number of hours, etc. Thus, it is doubly important to think about this issue in advance, since you may not be able to choose your own internship placement outside of what the funding dictates.

Tufts offers a number of resources for funding internships, individual research, and projects abroad. Here's a list of opportunities:

Career Services Summer Internship Grants
Summer Scholars Program
Tisch Active Citizenship Summer Fellowship Program
Undergraduate Research Fund
IGL Empower Program for Social Entrepreneurship
Anne E. Borghesani Memorial Prize
Dean's Student Grant Program for Engineering Projects

Other helpful websites:
Scholarships, Fellowships, and Post-Graduate Internships (through Career Services website)
Diversity Resources

External funding websites:
Fastweb
College Scholarships and Grants, Grad School Fellowships, and Post-Graduate Awards

Have questions or want more advice? Come see us!