The Twardowski Career Development Center established The Fund for Unpaid Internships on a simple premise. A student should never have to turn down an internship and the experience, skills, networking, mentorship, and access it can provide because of a financial barrier. However, there are students who are unable to afford to pursue unpaid internships, even though they provide a wealth of experience, or in some cases, are required for their field of interest.
There are rippling effects to not doing an internship that can follow students well into post-graduation. Research suggests that an internship on a resume increases a student’s chance of getting called for an interview. Beyond that, according to data from WCU’s class of 2019, students who completed internships reported starting salaries just over an average of $5,000 more compared to students who hadn’t completed internships. What seems like a small difference in starting salary can accrue to over $750,000 over a 45-year career with a modest 5% growth in salary every year. In addition, a student not having the ability to test an industry or job function of interest puts them at greater risk for making a less informed decision about their post-graduate plans.
The Fund for Unpaid Internships supports students completing many different types of internships from a variety of majors within the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Education and Social Work, the College of Health Sciences, the College of Sciences and Math, the College of Business and Public Management, and the Wells School of Music.
Gifts go directly to students in the form of stipends and scholarships. The next round of funding will open in May for students completing unpaid summer internships. We appreciate your support as we build capacity to fund as many students as possible!
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