Internships FAQs | Career Center | BYU-Idaho

# Internships FAQs

Learn more about internships, your responsibilities in completing an internship, who can help you find one, and much more.

Most BYU-Idaho majors require an internship. Internship requirements vary by major. Some have an optional internship with alternative courses that can also meet degree requirements. Some departments might require more than one internship; other departments might require other types of experiential learning (e.g., clinicals for nursing students or student teaching for education majors). Check with your faculty internship coordinator for complete information.

You are responsible for securing an internship and submitting an internship application that you can find on I-Plan. This should be done before starting the internship or within the first three weeks of work. Once your application has been submitted and approved, you need to register for the internship course and complete the coursework. You will not receive academic credit if you fail to go through the approval and registration process.

It is recommended that students start researching an internship about two semesters before the semester that they will do the internship. This allows time to research, prepare, apply, receive, accept an offer, and make any necessary arrangements for temporary relocation. Internships are found in a variety of industries. Click How to Find an Internship to see what is available.

Since students are responsible for finding their own internships, the type of internship position can vary. Some fields typically offer paid internships while other fields generally arrange internships on a volunteer basis. Unpaid internships can provide a great experience and could lead to higher-paying jobs later. Depending on your field of study, some of the best internships are unpaid.

An internship is an academic course and must be registered before beginning coursework. However, standard registration deadlines do not apply, so some internships may be offered and accepted throughout the semester, as long as there is time to complete all assignments. (Financial aid deadlines, however, still apply.) All internships must be approved by the faculty internship coordinator for your department. Complete an approval form in I-Plan.

****Health Insurance:**** All students will need to carry health insurance during their internship, whether through the University or through a family/private insurance company. 
 
****Compensation Insurance:**** Depending on the company/organization you are working for and the state in which they are located, your employer may provide Workers Compensation for you in case of an on-the-job accident. The University does not provide this coverage. 
 
****Liability Insurance:**** During the registration process, your experience provider will sign a Master Agreement. This will ensure that each intern is covered by the University's liability policy during the semester of their experience.

You will receive a reminder to complete an internship evaluation. In addition, you should check in with your faculty internship coordinator to see if there are any final evaluations, assignments, or reports that you need to submit prior to receiving your final grade for the course.

University policy requires every intern to complete an internship evaluation in addition to the designated course assignments. Students access the Self Evaluation through their internship course's I-Learn site. It is designated as a quiz and links to the evaluation survey. Employers may also receive an email with a link to the evaluation survey if the department requires it.

All internships are academic courses. If you successfully complete the course, you will receive credit and a grade. Address any questions about grades to your internship faculty coordinator. Grades are not be posted until the end of the semester. If your experience ends after the end of the semester, your faculty may decide to hold your grade until you are done. In this case, a "T" grade will appear on your record until your internship is completed, at which time the faculty will submit a Change of Grade. "T" grades for internships do not affect your ability to register for classes in the following semester nor will they adversely affect your student standing. Your internship is not be considered complete until the grade is issued.

Internship credits are exempt from tuition charges. However, an administrative fee equal to one credit hour at the current rate of tuition will be charged for an internship course. The fee is in addition to any tuition charges for other classes. Fees are charged independently of tuition and are not subject to the 12-credit tuition cap.

Financial assistance is available in some instances for internships. It is administered by the Financial Aid Office. Find out if you are eligible for an internship grant from the Financial Aid Office.

- You will need to submit a current PDF degree audit to your application
- You must submit a job offer letter on the company letterhead that includes: 
 - Start Date
 - End Date
 - Students Name
 - Company Name
 - Job Title
 - Job description
 - How the student will be receiving training from the employer?
- The student must upload screenshots of the course catalog Program Learning Outcomes to show that the job is directly related to their major.

Internship credit will be a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of six (6) credits. University policy states the maximum number of credits earned for internships may not be more than 5% of the 120-credit ceiling required for a bachelor's degree or 6 credits. Actual credit earned for each internship will be determined by the Department Internship Coordinator. If a student completes more than one internship, the combined credits earned cannot exceed six (6). ****If you are going to exceed six (6) credits, you will need permission from the faculty internship coordinator or department chair.****

For any given semester, you are strictly limited to registering for ****only one internship course.**** However, that single course does allow you the flexibility to complete your internship hours with up to two different employers. If you choose this option, both employers must be clearly listed on the ****same internship application****. Regardless of the actual start and end dates of your work experience or if you exceed the total number of hours required, the internship course credit is applied for the full duration of the entire academic semester.