Undergraduate Careers & Internships

UMass Women into Leadership (UWiL) introduces students to current leaders and providing opportunities for them to see first-hand the benefits of public service. UWiL provides models and pathways into leadership – all while helping to address the gender gap in politics and creating a pipeline from public education into public service. UWiL fellowship applications are accepted from all class years, yearly August 1 through October 15.

SBS in DC connects UMass Amherst College of Social & Behavioral Science majors with UMass alumni working in Washington DC. The program has proven to be a steppingstone for students interested in careers in fields like policy, non-profits, international development, strategy, marketing, PR, government, campaign work and more. Program participants complete a semester-long internship while taking a class related to their major and participating in professional development opportunities. Fall deadline - mid-January. Spring deadline - September 22

The Law and Policy Justice (LPJ) experiential cohort program provides UMass Amherst undergraduate students from any disciplines with the very valuable opportunity to combine their study of topics related to law, politics,  public policy, and social justice with internships and other experientially-based educational collaborations with the City of Boston and State of Massachusetts, as well as other (quasi-)governmental partners in and around City Hall.

Key program details

Semester: Spring 2025

Program capacity (cohort size): 25

Credits: Students may complete between 12 and 19 credits for the semester. The credits earned for the internship will vary based on the number of hours worked each week. The range is 12 credits (36 hours per week) to 3 credits (9 hours per week).

Suggested courses for the 'typical' Public Policy major:

• Internship (4 credits/12 hours per week) = fulfills SPP 300+
• Social Justice in Practice: Law, Politics and Policy (4 credits) = SPP 394EI
• Professional Development Seminar (3 credits) = fulfills SPP 302 (if not yet completed)
• UWW online course of your choosing

Note: For the public policy major, a maximum of 4 credits of SPP 300+ elective coursework may be done through applied experiences -- internships or research.

Example Internships:

• MA Appeals Courts
• MA Commission Against Discrimination
• UMass Office of General Counsel
• MA Office of the Attorney General
• District Attorney’s Offices

Housing: Residence halls at the Mount Ida Campus in Newton, MA with the option to live off campus. Meal plan available. 

Financial Aid: Financial aid is available for this program as are SBS scholarship opportunities. Students may secure paid internships and work study options may be possible. 

Cost: The tuition is the same as a tradition semester at UMass Amherst. Room and board costs for Mount Ida can be found here.

Additional Advantages:  You will have support in finding your internship. Also, you'll get to experience Boston with a cohort of 15 - 25 of your UMass peers. Finally, you'll gain access to special events, resources, and networks offered at the Mount Ida campus.

Eligibility: Application to this program is open to all sophomore, junior, and senior undergraduates and 4+1 students in any year.

Questions: Contact Sindiso MnisiWeeks (SindisoMnisi@umass.edu)

Interest Form Needed to Receive Application. Application due October 10th.

The Community Scholars Program (CSP) is a two-year academic community engagement program that works in collaboration with community organizations and movements to advocate for a more just world. Working with groups throughout western Massachusetts and sometimes beyond, CSP students contribute to meaningful social change projects in response to critical challenges and explore possibilities for building a more equitable world. First year and second year students may apply. Applications open in February and close mid-March.

iCons holds a mission to inspire a diverse generation of innovators with the attitudes and skills needed to solve the problems facing our world. Building on the disciplinary strength of each student’s major, the 20-credit iCons curriculum consists of one course per year over four years, culminating in world-class research experiences. iCons projects involve student teamwork on case studies, laboratory experiments, and research – all fostering cross-disciplinary communication and integrative problem-solving skills.

SBS in Boston makes finding an internship so much easier. Available in spring and summer, students may use the UMass Mount Ida campus as a hub for internships and co-ops, working with the SBS Career Advising Team to secure a role of interest. September deadline - October 10

While some internship positions are unpaid, generally, you can earn choose to work part-time, pairing the experience with a paid job. There is also scholarship funding available to current SBS students to help cover unpaid internships. Apply in Academic Works. 

You may also intern for course credit by finding a faculty sponsor and completing academic components alongside your internship. The instructions for this process are here. Earning course credit is not recommended in the summer, unless you really need the credits for graduation, as you have to pay tuition for the credits you earn, which would likely be an unplanned expense.

SBS Career Advising knows that professional development doesn’t start when you need a job. It starts now. That doesn’t mean you need to know the career you want after college. It means you should seek opportunities to develop skills that will serve you well in any career (like public speaking, writing, interpersonal, and analytic skills), explore what’s out there, connect with alumni, learn job search strategies, build experience by asking for more responsibility or new projects at work, seek leadership positions in clubs or volunteer organizations, and lay the groundwork for internships. Click here to make an appointment.

• Entrepreneur with a business focused on improving society
• Legislative and/or policy analyst 
• Program coordinator/aide for a town, state, or Congress
• Research associate for a consulting firm or think tank
• Sustainability/legislative aide in business, non-profit, government
• Communications manager for a nonprofit or government agency
• Program coordinator for a nonprofit/NGO in the U.S. or abroad
• Law school to become a lawyer with the government or an advocacy organization

• Library of Congress
• City of Boston
• Partners in Health
• United States Environmental Protection Agency
• The World Bank
• Booz, Allen, Hamilton
• Oxfam
• United Way
• State of Massachusetts

Public policy undergraduates have interned recently at the following locations and more:

• U.S. Senator Ed Markey
• U.S. Department of Transportation
• MA State Representatives Mindy Domb and Dylan Fernandes
• MA State Senators Jo Comerford and Barry Feingold
• Massachusetts Office of Business Development
• Office of the MA Secretary of Education
• Town of Middleboro, MA
• Department of Public Health, Cape Cod, MA
• Baystate Hospital conducting research
• Cooley Dickinson Hospital Emergency Room, Northampton, MA
• Legislative Division of the Department of Revenue for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Friends of the Jones Library Capital Development Campaign, Amherst, MA
• Law firms in Massachusetts and Virginia
• Hologic, innovator in women’s health
• Northampton MA Community Center
• Pine Street Inn (nonprofit homeless shelter)
• American Trucking Association
• UMass Amherst Student Legal Services
• Metropolitan Area Planning Council
• Massachusetts Department for Office of Grants & Research
• Strategy and Innovation Department, Raleigh City Government