Internships, Credit for

Internships for undergraduates at Duke University are work experiences that allow them to sample professional environments in which they might seek careers or which might give them experience that will help prepare them for careers.

NOTE: Internships cannot carry course credit. Students can, however, earn credit associated with an internship. The pathways for this are described below.
IMPORTANT: International F-1 students must obtain work authorization from the Duke Visa Services Office before engaging in off-campus employment (including paid and unpaid internships).

See Also:

  • Internships for undergraduates are work experiences that allow them to sample and gain working knowledge about professional environments or careers in which they are interested.
  • Kinds of internships include:
    • paid or unpaid 
    • academic or non-academic 
    • university-sponsored or independent 
    • They may be Duke-originating, or not affiliated with Duke at all.
  • Duke values internships, and encourages opportunities for such experiences to be part of disciplinary curricula.
  • The Career Center is an ideal resource for students to obtain information about possible internship experiences, and to receive assistance in identifying and preparing for these.
  • Students can register for an independent or directed study with a faculty member who has agreed to this collaboration. An independent or directed study entails work that is separate from the work of an internship. The point of such a study is to complement the internship experience by fostering deep reflection on the internship to distill a unique academic exploration.

NOTE: Students interested in this kind of independent or directed study must find a faculty member who agrees to collaborate with them on the development and implementation of all aspects of the study. The details of a study should be determined during the previous semester.

  • Students can also earn credit related to an internship through a course offered by the Writing Program, WRITING 270: Composing the Internship Experience. Students take the course concurrently with their participation in an internship.