Many federal agencies offer internship and volunteer positions for current students to experience their work environment. Review the sample listing below to start exploring and planning your application for agencies of interest.
Highlighted Openings
- Go Government manages the Federal Internship Finder
- Intelligence Community Student Programs and agency highlights
- Federal Agencies Internship Opportunity Bank
- USAJOBS offers a listing of current internships. Intelligence agencies require an application deadline of up to one year before the intended start of the internships because of the security clearance required, so plan accordingly.
- UMD: National Security Research
Agencies
CIA: General Internship, Fellowships, Co-op and Graduate Studies opportunities. Apply about 12 months prior to the summer you would like to start work.
Defense Intelligence Agency: Applications are available for the Defense Intelligence Agency Summer Internship Program. This program provides current college students and recent graduates with the opportunity to gain practical work experience through research, report writing, briefing development and delivery, policy writing and intelligence analysis.
DOD: high quality programs for students, graduates and professionals are: Pathways Programs
The Department of Homeland Security: offers a variety of prestigious scholarships, fellowships, internships and training opportunities to expose talented students to the broad national security mission.
U.S. Department of State Student Internship Program (paid)- All our internships and fellowships provide opportunities to gain experience and insight into the business of diplomacy as our employees work to advance U.S. interests worldwide. Pathways Program (paid), enable students to obtain job experience in a foreign affairs environment.
Virtual Student Federal Service: U.S. citizen college students can make a real difference in the work of the U.S. government through the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS). VSFS harnesses the expertise and digital excellence of U.S. citizen students to move the work of their government forward on multiple fronts.
FBI: Ten-week paid internship. The Summer Honors Internship Program seeks undergraduate (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior), graduate, or post-doctorate student. Students are not eligible if they will graduate before the program start date; exceptions are permitted to students continuing their education in the semester immediately following.
- The 2026 Honors Internship Program application cycle will begin February 10, 2025 for the summer internship period of June - August 2026. . Review application tips. Email gdenbow@umd.edu for assistance with FBI certification forms, after you complete your application. It is a form required for the application.
National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency: Summer options.
Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program, operated by the Partnership for Public Service, is recruiting young talent to join the federal workforce in support of two agencies as a summer intern. The program places students with critically needed skills into paid internships and aims to develop a diverse pool of young talent for these agencies. In order to apply to the program, candidates must be:
- Federal Semester is open to students from all majors, on an application basis. This year-long program combines a fall academic seminar with a spring internship. Students select one of the following concentrations: Health Policy, Homeland Security Policy, Energy and Environmental Policy. If you are interested in applying to the Foreign Policy concentration, go to: Global Semester in Washington, D.C.
- START fosters a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment to create a team that meets the needs of the homeland security enterprise and trains the next generation of scholars and practitioners.
Can genetic testing kits and consuming products derived from the cannabis plant affect your clearance eligibility? Read more here.
