Best Schools for Internships

The Princeton Review named Connecticut College’s internship program one of the top 25 in the nation and listed the College among the best undergraduate institutions in the country.

Connecticut College’s comprehensive internship program, which awards up to $3,000 for students to explore a career-related internship the summer before their senior year, ranked in “Best Schools for Internships” in The Princeton Review’s most recent publication, “The Best 382 Colleges: 2018 Edition.”

 “For more than 15 years, our career internship program has provided invaluable exposure to our graduates in a multitude of competitive industries,” said Persephone Hall, the Hale Family Director of Career and Professional Development. “Our career advisers, often in collaboration with faculty members, help students access our vast alumni network to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to be successful in today’s complex world.”

Each year, nearly 75 percent of students take part in the funded internship program. This summer, 319 rising seniors traveled across the country and around the world for their College-funded internships, where they explored careers ranging from environmental policy to fine arts.

Conn’s unique approach to education has increasingly gained recognition. In 2014, The Princeton Review recognized Conn’s four-year career program as one of the top 20 in North America. And in 2015, The Princeton Review named Conn’s internship program one of the top 25 in the nation.

“Internships are a flagship of our comprehensive career preparation program,” said Noel Garrett, dean of academic support and director of the College’s Academic Resource Center. “We work with students from day one to provide ongoing career-oriented opportunities. When connected with their academic experiences, these efforts result in meaningful internships that help guide a student’s future.”

The College is one of only a handful of schools in the country that provides funding for every student to use in a career-related internship. The program is now fully integrated with Connections, a new kind of curriculum that lets students merge their interests into a meaningful educational pathway, to carry them through college and into a fulfilling, effective career and life. The internship program is one aspect of Connections, and it focuses on helping students connect their liberal arts majors to professional opportunities and graduate study.

“My internship is right at the heart of European environmental policy, which is precisely what I'm exploring with my senior integrative project on Britain’s environmental legacy,” said Josh Lee ’18, a government major interning at the Delegation of the European Union to the United States in Washington, D.C. this summer. “Doing exactly what I want to be doing career-wise has been informative and relevant, and I have Conn’s funded internship program to thank for that.”

For Cecilia Bole ’18, an internship at one of the country’s largest museums provided the perfect opportunity to apply her philosophy and classics majors to the work of promoting both ancient and contemporary art.

“I am exploring the possibility of working at an art institution after graduation, and through my career internship, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is giving me the experience and credibility I need to pursue that option," she said.

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August 4, 2017