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Internships at Sacramento State

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Learn More About Internships at Sacramento State

Employers

Academic Internships

Offering academic credit for an internship helps students meet their degree requirements and positions companies for attracting more candidates. To comply with federal law, for-profit organizations offering unpaid internships can only do so if interns earn academic credit.

To ensure internships meet learning outcomes and liability requirements, Sacramento State students can only earn credit by interning with pre-approved organizations holding an Academic Internship Agreement with the university. Agreements are facilitated through the campus Community Engagement Center, which oversees community-engaged learning for Sacramento State.

Steps to Acquiring a Five-Year Academic Internship Agreement

Executing an Academic Internship Agreement could take from three weeks to several months to secure, depending on the company and alignment with academic requirements, and not all companies will be eligible. Companies interested in offering academic credit should:

Employers are also able to create non-academic internships and other job opportunities if desired and post these opportunities on Handshake. For other ways to engage Sac State students, visit the Career Center Employer webpage.

Contact the Career Center Internship Coordinator for more information on how to establish an internship program with Sacramento State.

Faculty

Academic Internships

The Community Engagement Center (CEC), in partnership with the Career Center, helps facilitate Academic Internships in several ways. The university requires that all organizations which cooperate with the university to sponsor academic internships establish a Community Partnership Agreement (CPA) with the university. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to our Faculty Associate for Academic Internships at moylan@csus.edu.

Faculty Resources

When can you expect to see your course in CEC Connect, and start placing students?

  • For Fall semester, approximately 126 days prior to the beginning of fall semester
  • For Spring semester, approximately 70 days prior to the beginning of spring semester
  • For Summer session, approximately 54 days prior to the beginning of summer session

Students

Academic Internships

An Academic Internship offers students an opportunity to work with qualified professionals in applying the skills and knowledge learned within the classroom to an on-the-job. Academic Internships are supervised by a faculty member or designated internship coordinator within academic departments. Some university departments and programs require students to do an internship; in other departments and programs, students have an option to pursue an internship for academic credit.

Enrollment & Requirements

Typically, students must be individually hand-enrolled in these courses. Internships are given the course designation 195 (bachelor's) or 295 (masters).

  • Academic internships can be paid or unpaid.
  • For every unit of academic credit received, students must work a minimum of 45 hours, sometimes more depending on the department.
  • Credit can only be obtained by interning with a pre-approved organization holding an Academic Internship Agreement with Sacramento State.

Students interested in earning academic credit should:

  • MEET with your academic department right away to learn the unit and degree requirements for eligibility and learn the deadline for securing a credit-approved internship site.
  • FIND organizations that are pre-approved for academic credit on the Approved Community Partner List and
  • SEARCH  Handshake for employers and internship announcements with the label: approved for academic credit.
  • CONTACT your academic department immediately if the company offering an internship you want is NOT on the Community Partner List or approved for academic credit in Handshake.
  • ASK your academic department to request an Academic Internship Agreement preferably five months prior to the start of the internship.
  • PREPARE with help from the Career Center. Internships are competitive, so students should make time to meet with a career counselor, attend Career Center events, and access our Featured Tools to get help with search strategies, resumes, and interviewing.

Students can also apply for paid job opportunities, including paid non-academic internship opportunities, on Handshake. Other options such as the California Intern Network, College Corps, and UEI positions, are also available to them.