Academic Internships
Earning credit for your internship
A good internship can do more than build experience — it can also count toward your degree. Here’s how to get started.
Step 1: Find Your Opportunity
Start with Handshake, VCU’s job and internship platform. Search for opportunities available to VCU students and use the “Internship” filter to narrow your results. Focus on roles that match your major, interests and career goals.
Step 2: Meet with a career coach
You don’t have to handle the search on your own. Business career coaches can help you identify internship opportunities, polish your resume and prepare for interviews. Schedule an appointment through Handshake.
Step 3: Get academic approval
After you receive and accept an official internship offer, submit it for academic review before the term begins. Credit cannot be awarded retroactively for an internship you have already completed. To receive credit, your internship site must be approved and you must be enrolled in the internship course by the end of the add/drop period. All requests for academic internship courses can be completed using this form.
Course guidelines
Prerequisites: ACCT 303 with a minimum grade of “C.” Restricted to accounting majors who have completed at least 54 credit hours (junior standing) or 24 credits with a minimum GPA of 2.5.
May be repeated for credit with different topics for a maximum of six credits. Involves students in a valuable experiential learning experience with a minimum of 240 hours during the semester in which the student is enrolled in the course. Includes on-the-job training in either public, corporate or governmental accounting. Supervision provided by the organization, and consultation provided by the course instructor.
To start the approval process, submit this approval request.
The BUSN 293 and 493 internship courses are designed to complement students' real-world experiences gained in business internships. The internship experience will contribute to the student’s development of knowledge, skills and abilities in a real-world context, supplementing and enriching the student’s business education. Students must be approved by the instructor to enroll in either BUSN 293 or BUSN 493. Consult with your academic adviser to ensure BUSN 493 will fit in your plan of study. To start the approval process, submit this approval request.
For BUSN 493, course credit correlates with the number of hours you work in your internship, and is available as follows:
- 240 internship hours = three credits
- 160 internship hours = two credits
- 80 internship hours = one credit
BUSN 293 is a zero-credit internship course, meaning it will be reflected on your transcript but no tuition will be charged. Students must complete at least 40 hours at an internship to be eligible for BUSN 293.
Students may take BUSN 293 and 493 for up to six credits, but each term must be for a different internship site. You may not take this course more than once in conjunction with the same internship site.
Students may earn academic credit in ECON 493 Internship in Economics when the internship involves a significant amount of economic or data analysis. To register for the course, submit this approval request.
Completing the course includes:
- Submit a summary of activities to the internship coordinator for the Department of Economics (typically the department chair) every week.
- Submit a paper to the internship coordinator within two weeks of completion of the internship, summarizing the activities performed, noting the lessons learned/skills acquired and identifying the linkages the student observed between the activities performed and material learned in prior economics courses. The internship may be paid or unpaid. Grading is Pass/Fail. An existing part-time job generally does not qualify; the internship must provide a new learning experience.
Requirements:
- The student must have a 3.0 cumulative GPA.
- The student must have a 3.0 GPA within the major.
- The student must be an economics major.
- The student must have completed at least 15 credit hours in economics.
- The internship must require at least 240 contact hours to receive three academic credits; 160 for two credits, 80 for one credit.
Must be a declared Finance, Insurance and Real Estate major with a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 and is at least junior standing. The internship must be for at least 240 hours during the semester of enrollment.
Interested students should submit this approval request along with an upload of a resume and internship offer letter.
- To enroll, students must pass at least 12 credits of 300-level or above INFO classes prior to registration.
- The internship must be directly related to information systems and supervised by someone outside the department whose responsibilities are related to information systems.
- Students are expected to work a minimum of 240 hours during a semester.
- To request approval, submit this approval request.
Enrollment is restricted to students with senior standing in the major with a meaningful internship in a setting appropriate to the major during the semester in which the student is completing the internship. Students must complete a minimum of 240 hours at their internship during the semester of enrollment.
To start the approval process, submit this approval request.
Enrollment is restricted to degree-seeking students who have completed at least 54 credit hours (junior standing) while maintaining a minimum GPA of 2.5. This course provides the framework for the student to document learning experiences from the internship and course work in a personal e-portfolio for career management. This applied learning experience involves short-term placement within a firm, which determines the student’s internship responsibilities.
Before enrolling, students must secure an internship in a selling position that will be 240 hours or more (e.g., 20 hrs/wk for 12 weeks). They must have permission from the instructor, Andy McGowan, director of the Center for Professional Selling, who evaluates the appropriateness of this internship, before being given permission to sign up for the courses.
Enrollment is restricted to students with senior standing in marketing.
Before enrolling, students must secure an internship in a marketing position that will be 240 hours or more (e.g., 20 hrs/wk for 12 weeks). To start the approval process, submit this approval request.
Offered in the fall and spring at the department chair's discretion. If not listed on the course schedule, students may approach their academic adviser or the department chair to ask if MKTG 493 can be added to the schedule.
Students must have senior standing in supply chain management and analytics. The internship must be at least 240 hours during the semester of enrollment in a supply chain management related job. Interested students should submit this approval request, along with a job description or posting.
Contact us
Have questions or ready to take the next step in your career journey?
We’re here to support you every step of the way.
Business Career Services
Snead Hall, Room B1102
(804) 828-3710
buscareer@vcu.edu