Due to a high volume of funding interest, the summer internship funding process requires a formal application with no guarantee of funding. The Career Development Office (CDO) evaluates applications based on eligibility, strength of answers, and scope of work.

Review the following requirements and application details before submitting your application.

Submit an application for Summer 2023 

Student Eligibility Requirements

Internship funding is available to students in Harris master’s programs that meet the following requirements:

  • You are in a Harris master’s program that requires at least 1200 credits or more over 2 or more different academic years (e.g, MPP, MSCAPP, and MACRM)
     
  • You are currently enrolled as a Full-time University of Chicago student in the 2022-23 academic year
     
  • You will be returning to Harris, enrolled Part-time or Full-time, to take For-Credit Classes for at least one quarter (Autumn, Winter, or Spring only) in the upcoming 2023-24 academic year towards your program degree requirements
     
  • You have NOT completed all program degree requirements by October 2023
     
  • You will NOT have graduated prior to December 2023
     
  • You have a confirmed internship offer at the time of submitting an application

To ensure you meet all requirements, use this template to draft a complete offer.

Internship Offer Requirements

To ensure all requirements are met, we have designed a internship offer PDF generator that the hiring manager can use to draft a complete offer. If the organizations HR policies require the hiring manager to draft their own letter, ensure that it has all of the following details:

  • Hiring Manager name, email, job title
  • Organization Name, department unit (if applicable)
  • Organization Address
  • Addressed to your name
  • Organization sector
    • Public
    • Non-Profit
  • Modality
    • In-Person
    • Hybrid
  • Internship start & end dates
    • must be at least 8 weeks from June to October 2023
  • Total internship hours
  • Supervision frequency
    • Once a week for 30+ minutes
    • Once every other week for 60+ minutes
    • If other, specify
  • Main responsibilities, experiences, and/or deliverables

Organization Eligibility Requirements

The organization offering the internship must meet the following requirements:

  • Must be a nonprofit or public sector organization anywhere in world
     
  • Private sector unpaid internships are not eligible for funding, including 'start-ups’

Funding Sources

There are 4 sources for internship funding. Depending on the policy area of your internship, you may be eligible for more than 1 source of funding. We encourage you to apply for the highest funding source that you are eligible to receive. 

Note: While we encourage you to apply to the highest funding source you can get, you might be accepted to a lower funding source. To set you up for success, we will do our best to give you the highest funding amount possible. You do not need to re-apply to be considered for a lower funding source.

Example: If you are researching housing policy in France, we encourage you to apply for the France Chicago Center fund. We will try to give you funding from the France Chicago Center fund, because it is the highest paying scholarship for which your work is eligible.

Explore funding opportunities.

Underfunded Internships

The Career Development Office defines ‘underfunded’ internships as offers that range from $1 - $3,999 in the non-profit or public sector. We provide last-dollar matching up to $4,000.

Example: You were offered $2,700 from your internship and confirm that you are receiving that amount by providing proof of financial compensation in your funding application. If approved, you could receive up to $1,300 from the Harris Summer Internship Application.

Financial Aid Stipend

All summer internship funding is processed as a financial aid stipend and can have an impact on recipients’ summer financial aid package. Students who intend to take summer classes and apply for summer financial aid (including loans) must note this in their application.

Application Due Dates

Opening on Monday, March 20, 2023, the internship cycle has 4 rounds. CDO staff reviews all applications submitted on or before each round's due date and notifies candidates on or before the date listed under each round.

April Round

  • Submit by: Sunday, April 2, 2023 | 11:59 p.m. (CDT)
  • To be notified: Friday, April 14 | 5 p.m. (CDT)

May Round

  • Submit by: Sunday, May 7, 2023 |  11:59 p.m. (CDT)
  • To be notified: Friday, May 12 | 5 p.m.  (CDT)

June Round

  • Submit by: Sunday, June 4, 2023 | 11:59m p.m. (CDT)
  • To be notified: Friday, June 16 | 5p.m. (CDT)

Rolling Basis

  • We will continue to accept applications after June 4, 2023 and continue to review on a rolling basis until all funds are awarded. Applicants can expect to be notified of a decision no later than 2 weeks from the submission date.