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Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP)
The Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP) provides students with a part-time internship in the greater Los Angeles area. The program helps Pomona students gain valuable pre-professional experience and explore career paths, while making meaningful contributions to partnering organizations.
About the Program
The Pomona College Internship Program (PCIP) was developed in 1976 and provides students paid experiential learning opportunities during the academic year in the greater Los Angeles area. This program aims to help students:
- Develop a better understanding of a professional work environment
- Enhance their knowledge and awareness about a particular career field and provide networking opportunities
- Learn how their liberal arts education will apply in a work environment
- Aid in the process of determining what career to pursue after graduation
In addition, this program helps to alleviate financial barriers that prevent students from doing an unpaid internship by paying students an hourly rate and providing transportation funding.
Around 150 students participate in PCIP every year. While the majority of internships are located near Claremont, there are also internships as far away as Riverside or West Los Angeles. This enables students intern at sites best suited to their interests.
In order to participate, students must be enrolled in courses at Pomona College at the time of the internship. (Students on leave or studying abroad are ineligible the semester(s) they are away). Interns must complete a minimum of 60 hours during the semester. Internships generally require 5-12 hours per week for 10 weeks.
How are Interns Paid?
Interns are paid $8.50/hour through their work allotment for the academic year. All students applying to PCIP must have sufficient work allotment to qualify for acceptance. The minimally acceptable amount of allotment is $510 ($8/5/hour x 60 hours). Interns can be paid for up to 80 hours of work during the semester provided that they have at least $680 in their allotment ($8.50/hour x 80 hours). The Financial Aid Office does not requires students to split their work allotment in half between the two semesters, therefore an intern can choose to use the majority of their allotment in one semester.
Transportation Resources
Public Transportation
Many internships can be accessible by public transportation such as bus or the metro. Monthly stipends are provided to cover these costs.*
Interns with Personal Vehicles
Interns using their personal vehicles will also be provided a modest monthly stipend to assist with gas costs. Amounts will vary depending on the distance of the internship from campus.*
Zipcar
Interns without a personal vehicle and where public transportation is inaccessible will have the option of using Zipcar. Zipcar is a car-sharing program at Pomona where interns can reserve a vehicle for the time of the internship. The vehicles are conveniently located on a few locations on Pomona’s campus and also at Pitzer’s campus. Interns need to create a Zipcar account prior to reserving a vehicle (The ASPC office has membership cards available). Membership info and reservations are online at www.zipcar.com/pomona. Monthly stipends will be given to assist with Zipcar costs related to getting to and from the internship site.*
To learn more, email Marcela Rojas or call 909.607.3938.