CAS Internship & Experiential Learning Program

If you have secured an independent internship, either during the academic year or over the summer, CAS has an option for you to receive elective Arts & Sciences credit toward your degree. If you are looking to get credit toward your major or minor for an internship, please check the Schedule of Courses to see what internship courses are offered by your academic department and contact the represented faculty. 

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Do I qualify for Internship Credit?

In order to qualify for credit, you must be working with a company or organization that is able to sign our UVM Internship MOU (i.e. legal entities or sole proprietorships with proper insurance coverage).

Internships that qualify for credit are:

• One-time experiences generally lasting 1-10 months.
• Distinguished from a job or volunteer work by a defined “learning agenda” that structures the experience and allows the student to get a real sense of the larger structure and impact of the organization on the community, clients, or other stakeholders.
• Supervised on-site by a dedicated mentor who will ensure the student completes their “learning agenda” and is supported throughout the experience.
• Not interchangeable with positions that the company or organization would normally hire a part-time worker for (i.e. a cashier, front desk, or cleaning position with no additional learning opportunities or observations of higher-level work).
• Paid (either by the organization, via UVM internship scholarship, or via external scholarship or stipend)
• Unpaid*
• Remote, In-Person, or Hybrid (some remote and some in-person work)

*If your internship employer does not offer to pay you, you might ask them about other forms of compensation. Some internships offer stipends, which is a fixed amount of money delivered in a lump sum, used to cover expenses (e.g. a $1,000 stipend for the semester). Other allotments may include housing, food, or vouchers for gym memberships, bus passes, etc.

If you have questions about whether your internship will be eligible for credit through UVM, please reach out to cas.internships@uvm.edu to talk with our Internship Team! 

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Internships vs. Research Positions

It can be tricky to tell the difference between Internship and Research positions, especially if the position title is ambiguous! 

• Research positions allow students to participate in the planning, conducting and/or reporting of a research project that leads to the creation of original knowledge in the discipline. The primary focus of research positions is on making an original intellectual or creative contribution and they are often supervised by faculty members.
• Internships are undertaken with the purpose of furthering career-related skills at an organization or company whose primary mission is commercial or nonprofit in nature and which has clients, stakeholders, or other beneficiaries.

If you are undertaking a research position, contact your department to find out how to earn credit for your work!

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College of Arts & Sciences Internship Credit Policy

The College of Arts & Sciences follows the University Policy on Academic Internships with the following clarifications (as of April 2016):

For College of Arts & Sciences students, a maximum of 12 hours of internship credit may be counted toward the B.A. or B.S. degree. Individual departments determine whether internships count toward the major and minor. Students are expected to either enroll in an internship course or work independently with a faculty member to design a readings and research project that complements the internship activity. Internship work must be done during the same semester in which the student is enrolled for internship credit.

Please read the full CAS Internship Policy to ensure your internship qualifies for credit.

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