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Internships

Career Success

Test out potential careers and gain hands-on experience with an internship. 

Good internships can help you develop professional skills, make industry connections, and apply classroom knowledge for a competitive edge in the job market.

Internships for Credit

Internship FAQs
Types of Internships
Internship for Credit (498)
How to Sign-Up

Internships offer practical career experience, so you can explore and confirm your interests. Through daily work, you'll gain insights into your chosen profession and expand your networking connections. An internship enhances your resume, showcases tangible skills, and boosts your appeal to employers. Excelling in an internship can even lead to potential full-time employment.

It's never too early to do an internship! You should aim to have at least two internships before you graduate, with a strong well-targeted internship the summer after your junior year.

Before beginning your search, outline your key internship criteria, including:

  1. Compensation: Determine if you require a paid or unpaid position.
  2. Location: Decide on preferred work site, considering living arrangements and housing affordability.
  3. Timing: Watch for application deadlines, especially for competitive fields.
  4. Organization: Define desired company culture and size preference.

Finding an internship will be labor-intensive. Start early! Meet with your CSB Career Coach.

  • Experiential: The most common type offered by employers, where the focus is on the ‘experience’ itself. It can be paid or unpaid and included on your professional resume.

  • For Credit: Some employers may require you to receive academic credit as part of your internship, which means you’ll register for a course that lasts 10-14 weeks and pay UNCW tuition. In this case, you will identify a CSB professor in your concentration who is willing to supervise your academic experience, and you must meet course prerequisites to register. Pre-majors do not qualify for this internship option until CSB admission is achieved.

  • Certified Internship Program (CIP): Offered through the UNCW Career Center, the CIP is a not-for-credit experience but does satisfy the Explorations Beyond the Classroom graduation requirement. It may be referred to as a “transcript notation” experience. Contact the UNCW Career Center for more information.

  • Global Internships: UNCW partners with leading organizations to provide you with internship placement based on your skills, interests, and future career goals to work abroad. These experiences are often for academic credit and may require you to pay for placement services. Contact the UNCW Education Abroad Office for more information.

You must have an internship offer before seeking approval for credit and meet course prerequisites to register. Pre-majors do not qualify for internship credit until they achieve CSB admission.

Each internship course has prerequisites. Review the UNCW catalogue to see if you qualify to register before contacting a CSB professor to seek potential supervision of your course. Internship for credit courses are offered by concentration subject – ACG 498, BAN 498, BLA 498, EBD 498, ECN 498, FIN 498, INB 498, MIS 498, MGT 498, MKT 498, SCM 498.

To register for the 498 Academic Credit internship, follow the steps below.  Note retroactive credit is not possible, so students must enroll prior to the internship start date.

  1. Receive and accept an offer for an internship experience. Students will need to source their own internship.
  2. Meet departmental requirements to register for a 498 course and satisfy any prerequisites. Review the UNCW catalogue to see if you qualify to register. Internship for credit courses are offered by concentration subject – ACG 498, BAN 498, BLA 498, EBD 498, ECN 498, FIN 498, INB 498, MIS 498, MGT 498, MKT 498, SCM 498.
  3. Identify a professor from your concentration to be your faculty supervisor. Make an appointment to discuss the internship and ask this person to supervise your course.
  4. The student, professor, & employer will fill out an experiential education internship registration form. This form is initiated by the professor who is supervising the course and once completed, will be used by the Registrar to enroll you in the 498 course.

Internship credit is counted as a “free elective” toward graduation requirements. It does not satisfy concentration requirements or replace a concentration course.

Tuition will be charged for the course just like a “regular” course on your schedule.

Other fees include the purchase of internship liability insurance. There is a $19 fee automatically added to your tuition bill when the internship course is added to your schedule.

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