Student interacts with others at conference table.

What is an Internship?

Internships acquaint undergraduate students with the everyday practicalities of an applied college education.

As a result, student interns better prepare for their future careers through invaluable experience, connections, and professional development opportunities. Review the video below to learn more from actual student interns!​

If you would like to apply for an internship, then please navigate to the “Apply for an Internship!” page or contact colacareers@unlv.edu.

Students work on laptops at a desk

Apply for an Internship

Summer & Fall 2024 student internship applications are now open!

  • Review the video below and timeline for a brief overview of our program
  • Navigate to the “Student Interns” resource page for additional information
  • Submit an application on the “Internship Site Application” page

Contact colacareers@unlv.edu if you have any questions

A student points to their research at a conference

Intern Resources

Workforce Interns practice post-graduate skills in a professional setting. This experiential learning can be vital in helping a student grow their confidence in the workplace, test out careers, develop their network, and add relevant experience to their resume or CV.

Research Interns practice research skills through our Community-Based Research Internship (CBRI) program. It is an opportunity for students to work with a community partner on a research project which will benefit their community. For example, an appropriate research project could include conducting surveys, running focus groups, analyzing current or newly collected data, drafting literature reviews, presenting data at a symposium, and more.

Self-Secured Interns may be either workforce or research in nature; however, they have an internship secured by the student themselves, rather than matched through the College of Liberal Arts. If you are interested in obtaining academic credit for an internship that you have secured on your own, then please submit this form to be considered.

Community-Based Research Interns:

In preparation for your research internship, you must complete the Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) course on “The Protection of Human Subjects”.

  • Please create a CITI account here: https://about.citiprogram.org/ 
  • Select UNLV as your organization
  • Search for the social/behavioral track within the Protection of Human Subjects course
  • Complete the course and earn your downloadable certificate

​You will be asked to submit proof of your completed training along with your internship hiring paperwork.

Research certification is free to students and may be completed on your own time without your site supervisor present.

We match students with internship partners on a first-come first-served basis, and some internship sites are highly competitive.

In order to help place your application to the top for your primary internship choice, you may earn any Professionalism badge from the UNLV Career Readiness and Life Design program for priority consideration. Enroll in the free course via Canvas here, and submit one Professionalism badge via email to colacareers@unlv.edu within two days of submitting your internship application.

Please note: While this process helps with priority consideration for your top internship options, it is not a guarantee that you will be placed with a specific internship site. We take care to match students appropriately as the volume of internship interest has increased, and we appreciate your understanding and patience.

Smiling student works on a laptop

COLA Internship Program Resources

People chat on couches

Student Testimonials

Mary Miller
UNLV Disability Resource Center

My internship at the UNLV Disability Resource Center has positively impacted me by allowing me to be supported, encouraged, and meet new people. The environment…has prepared me professionally by allowing me to understand what a positive work environment should look like and having bosses that care about your well-being physically and mentally. Also, it made me realize that I like working a job where I can talk, learn resources, meet others, and help people daily. Working in a place that allows individuals to succeed better is what I want to do with my career in the future.

Yutong Lu
National Alliance on Mental Illness Southern Nevada

In my understanding, internships are a great way to gain hands-on professional experience that can be invaluable during my job search. A major part of my internship is learning more about the field, and my individual strengths and weaknesses. During my internship, I have had the opportunity to apply what I have learned in the classroom to real-life situations and develop new skills that will allow me to succeed in my future career. I have been fortunate to have supportive colleagues who have prepared me to succeed in a long-term position.

Shannon Lee
Calm Clinic

My time at Calm Clinic has been nothing but amazing. Calm Clinic has given me a wide range of opportunities and hands-on experience in the mental health field that most undergraduate students do not have the opportunity to do until graduate school. I had the opportunity to work on a group therapy session and create a handbook that will be used by both clinicians and clients while in group therapy and the amount of knowledge and experience I have gained from this project cannot be expressed in words alone. Calm Clinic has definitely prepared me for the future.

Student works at desk on phone

Internship Sites

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