The College of Arts & Sciences provides funding for students working unpaid internships during the summer months. This page contains eligibility information, funding guidelines, deadlines, and application details. If you have any questions, please read our FAQ section or contact cas.internships@uvm.edu and our team will get back to you shortly!
The application for Summer 2025 funding will open on February 3, 2025 and close April 21, 2025. Please note that you will need to have secured an internship before applying for funding. The application is NOT first-come, first-served and all applications submitted by the deadline will be considered, so please ensure you take the time to secure the internship you want and then fill out the application thoroughly and completely.
Application Deadline: April 21, 2025
Please send any questions to cas.internships@uvm.edu.
Awarding Philosophy + Application Process
This funding aims to assist students who express financial need in order to take on an unpaid internship during the summer months. The key criterion is whether or not your summer internship can be considered “high impact.” CAS and the selection committee have broken down the concept of “high impact” to mean “this student + this time + this opportunity.”
You will be asked in the application to:
- explain your previous experience and future goals in relationship to your summer internship
- explain why pursuing this internship at this time in your academic career will make a difference to your trajectory or help meet your goals
- explain why this internship will be a quality experience (i.e. tell us about what your responsibilities, learning goals, and mentorship opportunities will be with the organization in question)
Please note that this is a competitive funding process and the quality and thoroughness of your application WILL be considered.
Timeline
| Item | Date |
|---|---|
| Application opens | February 3, 2025 |
| Application closes | April 21, 2025 |
| Funding decisions released to students | May 2, 2025 |
| Deadline for required materials (internship confirmation, thank you note, enrolling in credit, etc.) | May 14, 2025 |
| Funding will be distributed via SFS direct deposit | by June 1, 2025 |
Internships taking place outside of the United States will need to be approved by the Office of International Education before applying for this funding.
Email travel.study@uvm.edu to let them know you need to be set up in GoAbroad to begin this process. Please CC us on the email (cas.internships@uvm.edu), so that we know you have initiated this process.
Award Amounts
The maximum award amount is dependent on the total number of hours you will be working at your internship this summer. For students working fewer hours, and who therefore qualify for less funding from CAS, we recommend augmenting your scholarship with a paid part-time job. For help finding paid positions, please reach out to the Career Center or check out JobX to find a position through UVM Student Employment.
On the application, you will be asked to state the number of hours you plan to work per week and the date range you’ll be working to determine what bracket you fall into.
| Total hours for the semester (May 19 – August 8) | Maximum Award Amount Possible |
|---|---|
| 361- 480 hours | $4,000 |
| 241-360 hours | $3,000 |
| 121-240 hours | $2,000 |
| 80-120 | $1,000 |
| Under 80 | Ineligible |
Any questions regarding these maximums should be sent to Kelly Smith (kelly.i.smith@uvm.edu).
Available Funds
We plan to update this section closer to the application open date for the 2025 process. In the meantime, we’re pleased to share that, for the Summer of 2024, we awarded a total of $164,097 between 49 CAS students!
Application Requirements
The application form is required of all applicants. The form is branched to ensure you are getting to the correct questions for the funds you are eligible for. If you believe there is a mistake or issue with the form, please contact cas.internships@uvm.edu for assistance.
Eligibility Criteria
This program is open to all undergraduate, degree-seeking students in the College of Arts & Sciences who will be returning to UVM in the Fall semester (i.e. no graduating seniors) to continue their undergraduate degree.
In order to apply you must …
- have secured a summer unpaid* internship**
- have adequate knowledge of the internship in order to fully and thoughtfully complete the application questions
- be planning to work more than 80 hours at your internship site between May 19th and August 8th (UVM summer semester).
*Unpaid means that you will be receiving less than $500 total in compensation for hours or work completed at your internship site/host organization. We will be asking for confirmation from your internship supervisor prior to disbursing funds.
**Please see the bottom of this page for our definition of “internship.” Research positions are not eligible for this funding. If you have a research position according to our definition, we recommend you seek funding from FOUR or your academic department, and contact the Career Center about other available funding.
Requirements for International Internships (IMPORTANT)
Internships taking place outside of the United States will need to be approved by the Office of International Education before applying for this funding.
Email travel.study@uvm.edu to let them know you need to be set up in GoAbroad to begin this process. Please include our email (cas.internships@uvm.edu) so that we know you have initiated the process.
Once you have been approved, you will need to upload a screenshot of your approval to the funding application. So please be sure to keep the email!
Requirements for International Students
International students, please be in touch with the Office of International Education to ensure you have the correct VISA approval before embarking upon an internship in the United States.
Awardee Responsibilities
After being notified that you have been awarded, you will need to submit several items to the CAS Internship Team prior to May 14, 2025 in order to receive your funding:
Internship Supervisor Confirmation
If you are selected for and accept the funding, our office will reach out to your internship supervisor to confirm your position with their organization. They will be asked to confirm the following details:
- Your name
- Internship length and approximate number of hours per week
- Pay rate/total pay provided
- UVM Internship MOU
Thank You note for our donors
Students selected for funding will be required to write a Thank You note to the donors providing our funds. This note should include the following information:
- Your name, major, year, and any other info you wish to share about yourself
- How this internship will help you fulfil your future goals
- What you hope to learn from the internship
- A photo of you
Your Thank You note should be…
- …at least 300 words
- …in the format of a letter
- …addressed to “Dear donor,”
Send any questions to cas.internships@uvm.edu
Credit
If selected for funding via CAS, you MUST be enrolled in internship credit during the summer term. You have two options to fulfil this requirement:
SINT 2991 – About this course:
- Coursework for this online asynchronous class will include hours tracking, 2-3 small assignments, and a final reflection.
- $100 will be added to your total award amount to cover tuition for this course
- This course DOES NOT count for credit toward your degree. (On your degree audit, you will see SINT 2991 appear in the “not counted” section).
- You will automatically receive an override for the course from Kelly Smith after you are notified of your funding. Any questions or issues with registration should be sent to cas.internships@uvm.edu.
CAS 2991 A – About this course:
- Coursework for this online asynchronous class will include hours tracking, 5-6 professional development assignments, weekly reflections/blog posts, and a final reflection.
- You will be responsible for paying tuition for this course at the UVM Summer Tuition rate.
- You can earn anywhere from 1-12 internship credits via this course depending on the number of hours you work at your internship (1 credit = 40 hours). Keep in mind that summer tuition is paid per credit and that CAS students are allowed to count a maximum of 12 internship credits toward their degree.
- No override is needed. Any questions or issues with registration should be sent to cas.internships@uvm.edu.
Direct Deposit
You must enroll in Direct Deposit via SFS in order to receive your funding. If you are not yet signed up for direct deposit, please do so in myUVM (instructions on this process are available here: go.uvm.edu/directdeposit). This will allow UVM to deposit your award money directly in your bank account.
You may already be enrolled in direct deposit through PeopleSoft for an on-campus job, but this is a different system, so please do check to make sure you are signed up in myUVM!
OIE Approval (for International Internships)
If you’re planning an internship that takes place outside of the United States, you needed to have had this approved by OIE prior to applying for our funding. If, for some reason, you did not complete that step but were awarded funding, funds will be withheld until we have confirmation from OIE that your travel has been approved. Please email travel.study@uvm.edu with any questions.
About the CAS Summer Internship Scholarship Program
Started in 2015, the CAS Summer Internship Scholarship Program was created to help reduce barriers for students in the College of Arts & Sciences who take on unpaid or underpaid summer internships. By centralizing promotion, application collection, and funding disbursement, administrative pressure on departments was reduced and more students have been able to take advantage of available funds. Over the past 10 years, 367 students have been awarded through this program!
Frequently Asked Questions
How many students will be funded?
Over the past few years, CAS received an average of ~150 applications and awarded ~60 students–a ~40% award rate. Because award amounts are variable, we are not able to predict how many awards will be given this year, but all students are encouraged to apply, just in case! The waitlist does tend to move quickly as students’ plans change.
What if I have been offered a position at more than one internship?
If you’ve landed multiple internships, congratulations! However, this is where tough decisions need to be made. Some things to consider:
- If you’ve received an offer for more than one unpaid internship, please keep in mind that you can only apply for this funding once–for a single unpaid internship. You will need to decide which internship you would like to pursue, let them know, and apply with that site’s information. A word on juggling offers: It’s not fair to the site to string them along if you are ultimately planning to decline their offer. Also, by doing this, you will be potentially withholding that position from another student who will then have missed this funding process entirely.
- You will not receive a funding decision prior to May 2nd. Please be sure to communicate with your supervisor(s) about this and about the fact that you have more than one internship offer.
- If you receive an offer for an unpaid internship and for a paid internship, please be sure to communicate with your supervisor(s) about the fact that you have more than one offer and that you are waiting on a funding decision before committing. Your supervisor(s) may or may not be willing to extend your decision deadline, but they also might not.
Need advice? Get in touch with cas.internships@uvm.edu and we will do our best to help!
What if I’m waitlisted?
Students on the waitlist will be contacted between May 2 and June 1 as students withdraw from the process. This most commonly occurs if students land a paid internship, if their internship plans fall through, or if they receive funding from another source.
What if I still have financial need but I am being paid by my internship site?
If your cost of living is higher than your internship is able to accommodate, we recommend talking to your supervisor about either adjusting the numbers of hours you’re working so that you can pursue a part-time job simultaneously, or for other assistance (covering your lunches, gas, or other small expenses). The Career Center may be a helpful resource in searching for part-time work and for speaking with your supervisor about your pay.
What if I’m not awarded funding?
We sincerely wish that we could fund 100% of applicants, but because our funds are finite, we are often in the position of making difficult decisions. We consider all applications against on our primary impact philosophy (see awarding philosophy above), but also include factors such as quality of application materials, financial need, and safety risk. It is also possible that you or your internship did not meet the eligibility criteria for these awards, which would have been explained to you via email.
If you would like support in finding a summer job or in finding other possible sources of funding, we recommend that you contact the Career Center. We also recommend speaking to your internship supervisor to see if they might be able to advocate for any type of stipend or other form of income that could support the work you are doing for them (such as a grocery stipend or travel reimbursement, etc.).
Still have questions?
Email cas.internships@uvm.edu — our team would be happy to assist.
