Frequently Asked Questions

An academic internship connects an internship experience to an academic course in the student’s major or an area of interest. There are over forty academic internship courses for undergraduate students. Students must register for an academic internship course and complete a concurrent internship in order to receive academic credit for an internship at Loyola. 

Currently, the following programs require an academic internship: HSM, HMSV, SOWK, and ENVS. Please consult with your academic advisor to confirm.  

Academic internships are completed in tandem with a course and can be used to fulfill Loyola’s engaged learning requirements.  Academic internships are focused on student learning, with the on-site internship supervisor functioning as a co-educator, along with the student's supervising faculty member, to enhance students' "real-world" knowledge of a discipline. Note that many of these components may also be true of other internships, with the exception of an integrated course. 

Requirements vary depending on the course. Some academic internship courses require you to be in your third or fourth year, some require pre-requisite courses, and others require instructor approval before you can enroll. To find more details about the academic internship course in your program, refer to the CELTS Academic Internship website or your department's academic internship coordinator. 

You can find opportunities posted on Handshake as well as networking websites like LinkedIn and Indeed, or by working with Career Services. CELTS also produces a bi-weekly Opportunities Newsletter, which highlights opportunities from our community partners as well as a recommended organization page on our website. Please note that some academic internship courses have a list of approved internship sites. To find more details about the academic internship course in your program, refer to the CELTS Academic Internship website. 

There are five categories of classes that satisfy the Engaged Learning Requirement: Service Learning, Academic Internship, Field Work, Undergraduate Research, and Public Performance. Loyola undergraduate students are required to complete at least 3 credit hours of engaged learning prior to graduation. Confirm with your department’s academic internship coordinator, your academic internship course faculty, or your academic advisor to confirm you have fulfilled the necessary requirements.

Academic internship courses are designed to run simultaneously with your internship, meaning, if you’ve already completed an internship, you will be unable to take an academic internship course after the fact and receive engaged learning credit. To confirm the process in each department, find the internship coordinator for your program on the CELTS Academic Internship website. 

Loyola University Chicago supports the National Society for Experiential Education’s position regarding paid and unpaid internships: 

“... to favor paid work positions for students whenever pay can be arranged in work environments that have the potential for meeting the student's goals …Credit is for what students learn; pay is for what they provide to the field sponsor. The two are neither mutually exclusive nor conflicting … “(National Society for Experiential Education, 2011)  

Please also check with your department’s internship coordinator for any specific requirements for your program.