As the largest internship organization in the country, The Washington Center (TWC) utilizes its vast network of contacts to facilitate the placement of students. There are literally hundreds of individual internship placements within the following list of internship categories:

• US Congressional Offices; the White House, Political Campaigns
• Executive Branch Departments & Federal Agencies
• Nonprofit, Social Service & Advocacy Organizations
• Federal and Local Criminal Justice Agencies & Law Firms
• Broadcast & Print Media
• Public Relations and Lobbying Firms
• Museum & Cultural Institutions
• Investment, Accounting, Marketing, and Advertising Firms
• Foreign Policy & International Aid Organizations
• Research Organizations in the Natural, Biological, & Medical Sciences

To be eligible to participate in TWC's Academic Internship Program, you must meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Be enrolled as an undergraduate student at Stockton University.
• Be a sophomore or above while participating in the program and have completed at least two semesters on campus by the start of our program.
• Maintain a grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.75 on a 4.0 scale.
• Have approval from Stockton's campus liaison Lexi ReGina

This depends largely on your personal and professional goals for the program. Students who hope to turn their internship experience into a possible (permanent) job offer should consider an internship during their very last semester at Stockton, so you can easily start a full-time position immediately after graduation. Other students may want real-world work experience, enhance their resume, develop professional skills, explore different career opportunities, or simply be in a new environment for a semester. For these students, any semester – starting with the second semester of their sophomore year – would be a good time to be in Washington D.C.

An important consideration is your degree requirements - does you major allow for you to be gone during your junior or senior year? If students cannot be away from Stockton during the Fall/Spring semesters, then a (10-week) summer internship may be the best option. That said, the competition for internships is especially intense during the summer. However, all Stockton students who are accepted into the Washington Center are guaranteed an internship placement; this is also true during the summer when the competition is much greater. For students who cannot do an internship at all during their undergraduate years, a post-graduate internship is also available for students who have recently graduated. 

A Washington internship is a very intensive experience. Essentially, students do the following activities in the course of a typical week:

36-hour work-week – a Washington internship should be viewed as a full-time work experience. Interns work along-side regular professional staffs at their placement sites. Internships are designed to provide real, hands-on experience and development of para-professional skills. The Washington Center requires that at least 80% of an intern’s work assignments be substantive.

TWC class – Students will choose one TWC class, which meets once a week in the evening for 3 hours (6:30-9:30pm). Like any other classs, attendance is mandatory, and interns are required to do the reading and writing assignments on a timely basis. Students will be asked to submit their top five choices for this class, and TWC typically offers between 15-20 courses each semester. TWC hires the faculty, who are professors and practitioners from the Washington, DC metropolitan region; the faculty run the class and sends a final grade to Stockton University. 

Colloquium and Portfolio - Each week, TWC will hold a speaker event and ask students to submit professional development materials for review and feedback. TWC will send grades for these activities to Stockton University, as well. 

All Stockton students earn 16 academic credits for the semester you're in DC. Of these, 8 credits are for the internship itself (WASH 3940 Washington Internship), and 4 credits are for the evening course all students take during their Washington internship (WASH 3620 Washington Seminar), and 4 credits are for the career readiness program (WASH 3300 LEAD Colloquium). Students should consult with their preceptor and/or program chair to decide – before the internship begins – where the 16 credits can be allocated. Students accepted into the program can register for these courses themselves. It is important to remember that these are Stockton University credits (not transfer credits). The grades students earn for the 16 credits are factored into their Stockton GPA. 

How does the billing work? Once a student applies and is accepted into the program, Stockton University handles all payments to The Washington Center for the entire internship program, including housing. The University handles billing for the internship program just like any other semester - students will be billed by Stockton University through the normal process and deadline schedule, and payments should go to the University's Bursar. This means that whatever financial assistance (e.g., scholarships, grants, loans) students usually receive during the Fall/Spring/Summer is applied to the program/housing fees of The Washington Center. 

What does it cost? Generally, an internship semester in Washington, DC costs about what is needed for a full-time semester at Stockton (i.e., the tuition and student fees for four courses, room and board, books, and personal expenses). The Washington Center generously provides all Stockton students a $2,550 discount off their published fees. Moreover, unlike many other institutions, Stockton does not add additional administrative fees to a student’s bill; students are billed exactly what Stockton is billed for each student. Washington Center also offers – on a competitive basis – scholarships of various amounts. In order to be considered for scholarships students need to submit their application before the “Early Deadline” for each individual semester. There is not a separate application for scholarships. Students merely have to mark the scholarship categories on the first page of the application form, in order to be considered.

What do students have to pay for in D.C.? While housing is provided, students are responsible for paying for their own meals and transportation costs.

Are there resources to help students pay for meals & transportation? Yes! To help defray these costs, Stockton University gives every single D.C. intern an $800 stipend. The stipend is generally received at the mid-point of a student’s internship semester in DC. The money can be used for commuting expenses, meals, and personal items. Washington Center also offers – on a competitive basis – scholarships of various amounts. In order to be considered for scholarships students need to submit their application before the “Early Deadline” for each individual semester. There is not a separate application for scholarships. Students merely have to mark the scholarship categories on the first page of the application form, in order to be considered. The Hughes Public Policy Center also provides a single $1,000 scholarship per semester, directly paid to students; the recipient of this scholarship is based on need as determined through the FAFSA & Financial Aid Office, with GPA a secondary criteria if there are ties.

Stockton students apply for the TWC Academic Internship Program directly through The Washington Center. 

The TWC provides an application checklist with a complete list of the application requirements, including a one-page resume, Statement of Professional Interest, and Issues Essay or Writing Sample. You are also required to list the contact information for one reference, which can be a Stockton professor or former/current job supervisor.

The $60 application fee can waived with the code "TWC60". It is important to note that submitting an application to the Washington Center does not mean a student is somehow “locked” into going to Washington. If circumstances arise that preclude a student from accepting an internship offer, their application can be withdrawn up until a student accepts an internship offer.

Once accepted, our office will email a list of interns to relevant campus offices and departments, to notify them of the students who will be away for a semester (e.g., Student Records, Financial Aid, Academic Affairs, the Bursar’s Office, Housing and Residence Life, etc.).

Once accepted, TWC handles the internship placement process and everything else! They provide resources for students to compare opportunities, and really think about what they want to do while they're in DC. They also share your resume, statement of professional interest, and reference to potential internship sites, who review your materials and schedule interviews. Watch this video to learn more, and please note that Stockton University manages the entire invoicing and payment process - you will NOT receive an invoice from TWC, and instead pay through the normal billing process at Stockton University. 

TWC has resources to prepare you for D.C., and then TWC advisors, staff, and faculty work with you on a weekly basis to support you once you're there. Check out the TWC guide to living in DC, with specific resources about the neighborhood you'll be living. Housing is in the TWC Residential and Academic Facility (The RAF). Apartments are fully furnished with two bedrooms, bathroom for each bedroom, living room and dining space, full kitchen with a dishwasher, and their own washer and dryer. Students will be provided a list of personal items to bring before the move-in (bedding, toiletries, etc.). Two students are assigned to each bedroom. The building is quite secure, interns must show their Washington Center ID to a concierge upon entering the complex.