School Profile: Penn’s International Internship Program
(Penn Global) – Penn’s International Internship Program (IIP) provides opportunities for outstanding undergraduate and graduate students to intern abroad for eight to twelve weeks over the summer. The majority of internship placements have been with non-profit or non-governmental organizations, but the nature of the placements varies greatly. Some IIP placements require office work, while others require hands-on work at field sites, schools, or clinics.
Each intern will receive a modest stipend to cover their internship-related expenses, including flight, visa expenses, housing and food, funded by the University of Pennsylvania. These global opportunities allow students to apply the academic knowledge they have obtained, while enriching their overall Penn experience with diverse cultural and international exposure and valuable work experience.
If you are interested in spending a summer abroad doing work related to your academic concentration or interests, we encourage you to explore the IIP placements available and contact us with any questions.
Why intern abroad?
Everyone knows that internships are an asset to your resume and can be a great stepping stone to a career, but international internship can really make you stand out . An international experience increases creative thinking, independence, communication skills, cross cultural competency, and the ability to work with people of diverse backgrounds, and work experience abroad is a valuable asset to job seekers in the increasingly global economy. An internship abroad is a life-changing experience that will set you apart from the rest of the applicant pool.
About the matching process
Penn’s International Internship Program places students in internships through a matching process. Students apply to the IIP program through an online application. After the application closes, the Penn leadership team reviews applications and schedules interviews with top candidates. After these interviews, the Penn team will match students with internships, based on each applicant’s skills and interests, and the needs of the host organization, taking into account what internship or organization will be the best fit for each student. The selection committee then ranks the students for each internship or organization. Each organization that sponsors an internship will be sent the application information of the top candidates. The organization will be given a chance to interview the candidates themselves before they make the final selection of the candidate they wish to accept.
About the IIP stipend
Students selected for an IIP internship will receive a stipend to offset the cost of round-trip travel from Philadelphia to the internship site and living expenses. Any costs above the stipend amount must be covered by the student. We recommend you talk to past participants about in-country costs and budgeting for your internship.
IIP interns receiving financial aid, but expected to contribute summer wages towards their tuition costs, may be eligible to receive a waiver for the summer contribution.
We are happy to provide the necessary documentation for the waiver application. We encourage you to speak to a financial aid counselor to talk about your own specific circumstances. For more information, visit Student Financial Services.