Internship Handbook for Undergraduates

To fulfill the PPS internship requirement, your internship should be full-time for a minimum of ten weeks or 350 hours.

Your internship must be related to policy issues and to some aspect of the course work you have pursued in the Sanford Institute. The internship should not be primarily clerical. 

An internship in a government agency (federal, state or local). An internship in a legislative office must be examined closely to ensure that it will relate to substantive issues.

An internship in a nonprofit organization, that deals with public affairs or public issues.

Any media internship with a newspaper or a newsmagazine, a radio or television news organization or news bureau, or a news or public affairs radio or television program. Since the public policy department is the only major with courses in journalism, most journalism internships will qualify if they are related to current events, not sports or entertainment.

Internships in private companies can qualify as public policy internships, but only under special circumstances. Your internship must have public policy content. If you want to work at a private company in an internship that is not in our database, you should get special approval as soon as you know about the internship possibility from the Career Services office.

An internship for a private company in a government relations, community relations, federal relations, regulatory affairs, or legislative affairs office, tracking legislation or regulations and providing information and analysis to your supervisor will qualify.  Marketing and public relations internships generally do not qualify, but if you think your internship has enough public policy content, we will evaluate it for you.

An internship in a trade association, for example the American Medical Association or the Bond Market Trade Association, can often be a good internship as these associations usually represent their members to public regulatory bodies.

Make sure your internship will have public policy content, rather than organizing the annual golf tournament, and we will evaluate your request favorably. 

An internship in a law firm may qualify if you are working on matters of public policy. Working on corporate contracts or real estate closings, although laws govern such contracts, does not qualify as a public policy internship. However, students have been approved to work with real estate attorneys doing research on local ordinances that regulate development. Many of our students work in public defender offices in the summer, so working for a defense attorney would also qualify.

A rotation internship in an investment bank does not qualify, even if one of the rotation sites is public finance. An internship in a public finance department of an investment bank or brokerage firm may qualify, depending on the nature of your duties. If you are working with public sector clients using data and research to prepare reports that help them market their bonds, that would qualify. If you are working on sales efforts, that would probably not qualify.

Internships with consulting firms must be serving public sector clients or providing information about the public sector to a client. For example, following and reporting on health care reform legislation for an insurance company. If your intern sponsor cannot specify which clients you will work with over the summer, we cannot approve the internship.

To get an internship with a private company approved, send an email to the Internship Coordinator with the information sheet and a contact name and phone number. Remember to put your name in the subject line of your email.  We will follow up with the sponsor and respond promptly. If Career Services denies your request, you may appeal to the Director of Undergraduate Studies. The decision of the Director of Undergraduate Studies is final.

If you completed enough prerequisite course work before you began your internship, and you wish to have it considered for your PPS requirement, you may submit the information sheet, along with the name and phone number of your supervisor, to the Internship Office. Remember to put your name in the subject line of your email.  We will consider your request, contact your supervisor, and determine the appropriateness of your internship. 

If your prior experience is approved, you still will need to complete the other internship requirements: a Policy Memo, a Self-Evaluation Form, and a Sponsor Evaluation Form from your supervisor.