Internships are an excellent way to gain experience and build your resume, but in many cases they can also be used to gain academic credit, either to meet degree requirements or to fulfil elective hours. In cases where academic credit is offered the student and the internship supervisor work together to develop learning objectives which will define the structure of the student's educational outcomes for the internship experience.

In most situations academic credit will be granted by the student's major or minor department. In situations where the academic department does not offer credit the University Career Center can offer undergraduate internship credit through UCOL 3410. 

To determine if your academic program offers internships for credit talk to your academic advisor or check the academic catalog. 

Steps to Completing an Academic Credit Internship

1. Meet with a career coach by appointment (made in Hire-A-Niner) or during our drop-in hours to go over your resume and discuss strategies for locating an internship that is a good fit for you.  

2. Locate an appropriate internship - do this 1 or 2 semesters prior to when you intend to apply for credit. You can search for internship opportunities through Hire-A-Niner.

3. Talk to your academic advisor about your options for getting credit for your internship opportunity

4. Apply for credit in the Internship Experience

Apply for Internship Credit

UCOL3410: Program Parameters

• This course has been designed to provide students with an opportunity to gain academic credit for an approved internship experience when all academic program avenues have been exhausted.  Please explore your academic department options before utilizing this process.
• This internship class is open to juniors/seniors with 60+ earned credit hours and a 2.0 GPA.
• Students are eligible for academic credit based on hour(s) spent onsite.
  • 1 credit-hour: 50 Site Hours
  • 2 credit-hours: 80 Site Hours
  • 3 credit-hours: 120 Site Hours
• This opportunity is repeatable up to 6 credit-hours MAX; only 3 credit-hours allowed per semester.
• This course is graded as Pass/No Credit
• Applications will not be accepted after the last day to add/drop classes for the internship semester. Check the Academic Calendar to verify the deadline before applying.
• It is your responsibility to connect with your academic advisor to determine how this course will count towards graduation.
• For students interested in conducting an internship for academic credit during the summer session, it is highly advisable that you review summer tuition and fees which can be different than the Fall/Spring sessions.
• For experiences requiring you to have liability insurance, please reach out to the career team for more information about this process. There is a $12 fee required.

 

If you require additional guidance in seeking credit from your academic department, need help working through learning objectives with the internship supervisor or have any other concerns about internships for credit, contact Patrick Madsen, Associate Dean Experiential Education, at experiential-ed@uncc.edu.