Hiatt Career Center

Internship Courses May Be Part of Your Major/Minor Options

Over 26 academic programs offer an internship course as an elective option.  Internship Courses help students academically develop an internship from both an experiential and an academic context. Courses are faculty-led and designed to maximize the student's learning and professional skills. 

Some internship situations require that the student earns academic credit including international students wanting to use CPT authorization or students interning at an organization requiring them to earn credit in lieu of pay.

Some organizations will require you to earn credit because of their interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Your employer may require a letter indicating that you’ll be receiving credit.  Please refer to the Credit Eligibility Letter Page/Form for more information.

International Student Requirements

If you are an international student, you will need to meet specific work authorization criteria in order to complete an internship in the United States.  If you are going to use CPT, you must enroll in an internship course in your major of study at the same time as you are doing your internship.  You must have a declared major to use CPT. International students not enrolled in a curricular endeavor that accompanies their internship risk violating their visa status. Check with the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) for specific information on appropriate visas.

Prior Approval & Eligibility

A faculty member MUST approve your internship in advance in order to evaluate your responsibilities and intended learning objectives.  In 99% of the cases, faculty will not enroll you in an internship course without prior approval of your internship and participation in the goal setting, so make sure you complete this first. 

Academic internship courses, per the UCC Internship Guidelines, are usually performed in junior or senior year.  However, at faculty discretion, sophomores may enroll.

Internship Hourly Requirement

Internships that are part of a 4-credit internship course must be:

• at least 100 hours over the course of at least 10 weeks during the fall/spring semester OR
• at least 100 hours over the course of at least 6 weeks during the summer

Internships part of the Summer INT 92g 1-credit course must be at least 100 hours over 5 weeks in the summer.

Compensation

Your internship may be paid OR unpaid to receive credit.

Credit Limit

A student may earn up to 8 credits of internship courses to count towards their degree requirements.  Students may complete additional internship courses and petition to have those appear on their transcript, but the credits would be “purpose credit” and outside of the 128 Brandeis credits needed for a degree.  See the Registrar’s site for more information.

Additionally, students may NOT use one internship experience to earn credit in multiple internship courses.  Each internship experience counts toward one internship course only.

Timeline

In most cases, you will take an academic course and pursue an internship within the same semester.  However, some programs will allow you to complete an internship in the summer and take the subsequent class the following fall.  ENVS 89a and LGLS 89a no not allow students to earn credit retroactively.  Always check with each faculty members in advance.

Here is a suggested timeline for securing an internship, beginning the position, and enrolling in an internship course.

Academic internship credit cannot be approved retroactively for any experience without prior faculty approval of the internship placement.  Faculty must know about and approve of your internship for the internship course before you begin the internship experience.

Tuition & Fees

You do not need to pay additional tuition for internship courses taken in the fall or spring semester if they are part of your normal academic load.  Summer internship courses are coordinated by the Summer School and cost extra.  As of June 2012, the 1-credit INT 92g course is $450.

Grading

Grading varies based on the type of internship credit course.

• 4-credit internship courses are assigned letter grades.  Grading is mainly based on your academic work for the course and faculty can also take into consideration your internship experience based on the evaluation from your supervisor.
• 1-credit internship course (INT 92g) is graded on a Credit/No Credit basis only.

A Note About Liability Waivers

Brandeis representatives cannot sign any liability waivers or ‘hold harmless’ agreements.  Your internship experience happens on-site, and Brandeis does not supervise your on-site experience.

In general, Brandeis encourages organizations to compensate interns because it attracts a wider pool of applicants and recognizes the value and worth of the interns’ contributions.