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Pomona College Summer Internship Funding Awards

Looking for funding for your low-paid or unpaid internship?

Program Overview

The Career Development Office offers funding for unpaid or low paying summer internships. The funding awards encourage students to pursue career exploration through summer internships in all career fields. Students must have an internship offer prior to applying or be in the final stages of the organization’s application process. The CDO will assist students in their search as we have access to over 6,000 internships from across the country and the world through the Liberal Arts Career Network (LACN) as well as other resources.

The goals of the program are for students to:

Gain a rich understanding of a particular field and/or organization
Have a personalized internship opportunity
Connect the internship to their career goals/aspirations
Have access to an internship that could be pivotal in their career development but would be difficult without additional funding

The CDO works to ensure that students maximize their experience by requiring activities that will advance students’ career development.

This includes:

Creating an Internship Agreement that clearly defines the activities of the internship, learning opportunities, and supervisory structure
3 journal entries that help students reflect on their experience and what they’re learning.
3 informational interviews to help students expand their career network and knowledge about the industry.
Mid-internship evaluation so that the supervisor and student can check in on the progress of the internship and resolve any issues that have come up. (NOTE: The Internship Coordinator is also available to help with these conversations).
A final evaluation by the student and supervisor gives both sides the opportunity to fully reflect on the internship and provide final remarks.
Participate in campus events highlighting the students’ summer experience, promoting the program to relevant constituents and gaining public speaking skills.
Students who complete the program in good standing will receive a .5 credit notation on their transcript which will be non-cumulative and will not count towards the 32 credits required to graduate.

The program is made possible through the generosity of alumni, parents, and foundation gifts. Students may apply for up to $4,000 for domestic internships and $5,000 for international internships. This may be used towards living expenses including but not limited to: housing, transportation, and food.

Summer Funding Award Descriptions

GENERAL AWARDS for internships in any career field include:

Jason and Nancy Hoffacker Rosenthal Internship Award (1 recipient)
Luisa Hunnewell and Larry Newman Internship Awards (2 recipients)
Rusty Doms Internship Awards (2 recipients)
Dowlin Young Internship Award (1 recipient)

SPECIFIC AWARDS include:

Arts - Fine Art/Music/Media/Entertainment
Andy Barth Internship Award (1 recipient)
Loeb Charitable Foundations Award (2 recipients)

Community Engagement - Education/Non-profit/Social Justice/Health Services

TBD - The Karen D. Kraemer ’80 Internship for Social Justice and International Relations (1 recipient)

Awards by Major

Women’s Opportunity Fund Award – designated for female students majoring in Math or Economics (2 recipients)

Internship Eligibility Guidelines

Unpaid or low-paying internship ($1,000 or less)
Minimum of 240 hours of supervised work at one internship site (equivalent of 6 weeks/40 hours/week)
Offered during the summer and completed by August 17th
Supervised by a professional in the organization who agrees to our program guidelines
Offered during the summer beginning no earlier than the 3^rd week in May and ending no later than the last week in August
Connected to the applicant’s overall career goals or ideas

It is strongly preferred that the internship take place entirely at the organization's work site, except when interns conduct work in the field, or attend meetings or conferences.

Experiences/projects/programs NOT eligible for the Internship Awards:

Projects that fulfill the criteria of a SURP (Summer Undergraduate Research Program).
Pre-thesis research at Pomona College or elsewhere without significant experiential learning component
Program fees (funding will not cover fees to participate in study abroad, volunteer/service, exchange or other similar programs)
Tuition-based summer programs including those with an internship component
Internship or project receiving Pomona College course credit
Non-credit course or training program
Independent projects
Host organization cannot be owned or run by a member of your immediate family

Student Qualifications

Currently enrolled as a student at Pomona College (this includes visiting students).
In good academic standing (not on probation), or have permission from the Dean of Students.
Completed some amount of research/exploration on career interests
Submit a thoughtful application that demonstrates how this internship will allow the recipient to explore a career option of interest to him/her
Demonstrates that he/she could not do this internship without receiving outside funding
Strong resume (NOTE: We highly recommend you come into CDO Drop-In Advising hours Monday through Friday, 3:00-4:30 p.m., Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30-11:30 a.m., to have your materials reviewed by a staff member
Internship applications should be well thought-out and aligned with the interests of the applicant, regardless of location

Student Preferred Qualifications

Has done a significant amount of career exploration through attending workshops on campus, informational interviews, taking career assessments offered by CDO, doing a practice interview, etc.

Currently enrolled student (First year, sophomore, junior), no graduating seniors

To Apply

Students must have received an offer or be a finalist for a summer internship eligible for a funding award. The CDO is happy to assist students in their search as we have access to over 6,000 internships from across the country and the world through the Liberal Arts Career Network (LACN) database as well as other resources.

Email your resume and completed application to Marcela Rojas at marcela.rojas@pomona.edu