Academic Internship Program

All AIP courses are open to eligible students of any major who follow the application and enrollment process in the quarter preceding the internship. Eligibility for AIP courses is dependent on the course:

• Lower division: 30 units completed, 3.0 UC GPA
• Upper division: 90 units completed, 2.5 UC GPA

Students need to apply for an AIP course or program before the quarter they are applying for credit. AIP is not able to grant academic credit for retroactive or previously completed internships.

Note: If a student is interested in continuing their existing AIP internship, they can create a new Learning Agreement with a changed role, responsibilities and/or project to ensure new learning and new development of skills/knowledge. Students may earn credit up to three times for AIP courses, and may not exceed 16 units of AIP.

More detailed information is available on the AIP Courses page. Below is a general overview of AIP's core courses. See Course Catalog for official descriptions. Students are encouraged to check with their major department to determine whether AIP courses can fulfill a major requirement.

• AIP 197: Academic Internship Program. Upper-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course. Students engage in independent internships, identify Learning Objectives, and develop a related paper or project under guidance of a faculty advisor. Internships may be in any industry, and are vetted by AIP for alignment with established internship criteria.
• AIP 97: Academic Internship. Lower-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course, making enrollment in an internship course accessible to lower-division students. Course structure and requirements mirror AIP 197.
• AIP 197P: Public Service Internship. Upper-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course. Students intern with non-profit or government entities, and may apply credit toward Public Service Minor requirements.Overall course structure is similar to AIP 197.

In addition to AIP's core courses, we support enrollment in internship courses linked to partner programs, including BISP 197 (Biology Research Internship Program), ANTH 197 (Anthropology Internships), and GLBH 197 (Global Health Internships).

More detailed instructions on the application process are available on our AIP Checklists page.

• Register an account through our InternLink system
  • Students unable to log in to InternLink should reach out to aipinfo@ucsd.edu or through the VAC
• Upload your resume, cover letter, and other required documents to InternLink
• Apply for positions and the internship organization will contact you directly for an interview
• If selected for an internship position, complete the Learning Agreement (see the Learning Agreement section below)

An AIP counselor is available to meet with students throughout this process, providing assistance with finding appropriate internships, resume/cover letter preparation, the application and interview process.

More detailed instructions on the Learning Agreement page. A Learning Agreement must include:

• Internship dates (start and end dates must align with dates of the academic term, Weeks 1-10)
• Internship schedule and hours
• Faculty Advisor contact information
• Internship details
  
  • Organization name
  • Supervisor Name
  • Supervisor Title
  • Supervisor Email
  • Supervisor Phone
  • Internship Title
  • Internship description (responsibilities of the position)
• Determine three Learning Objectives
  • Learning objectives should reflect concrete knowledge or experiences you hope to gain from the internship opportunity.
  • Identify the steps that would help you to achieve those objectives
• A summary of your final deliverable

Once the Learning Agreement is complete:

• Submit the Learning Agreement to AIP via InternLink
• AIP will review your Learning Agreement and will provisionally approve your application
  • If revisions are needed, the Learning Agreement will be sent back to you for edits
• Your Internship Supervisor will receive an email requesting their electronic approval of the Learning Agreement

More information is available on the EASy Requests page. Upon approval by AIP and your Internship Supervisor, you may begin your enrollment request via the Enrollment Authorization System (EASy). You will need:

• Your proposed final deliverable
• A PDF of your approved Learning Agreement (Employer Approval Date will be indicated toward the bottom of the Learning Agreement)

Your request will be electronically routed to your Faculty Advisor for approval.

*Note that deadlines for special programs including BISP 197 and UCDC may differ. Internship dates for which credit is requested must fall within one academic quarter.

**Summer internships will be scheduled for Special Summer Session III, see the Summer Session website for information around fees and payment deadlines.