Summer Internships for Education Majors: Your Guide to Launching a Career in Education

For students majoring in education, summer internships provide invaluable opportunities to explore the field, gain practical experience, and build a professional network. With a multitude of career paths available, an education major can benefit significantly from internships, which offer exposure to different roles and help refine career interests. These internships offer a first-hand look at what it’s like to work in education, build relationships with coworkers, and connect with potential mentors.

Why Pursue an Education Internship?

Education internships are more than just resume builders; they are stepping stones to future success. The best education internship programs strengthen resumes, provide valuable avenues to letters of recommendation, and can even turn into full-time jobs. Considering the benefits of exploring different facets of one field, an education internship search is a worthwhile endeavor. Internships provide valuable avenues to letters of recommendation and can even turn into full-time jobs.

Skill Development

In education internships, you’ll gain skills in teamwork, organization, accountability, and problem-solving, among many others. Education internships during the summer will provide you with many valuable experiences, giving a real taste of what it’ll be like to work in education down the line.

Networking Opportunities

Interns connect with potential mentors, learn education trade secrets, and build relationships with coworkers with a range of expertise. Once you’ve landed an internship in education and settled into the flow of day-to-day life at the office, start chatting with your coworkers. Whether they’re industry professionals or fellow interns, it’s important to treat them with equal respect. You never know what insights they could lend, or who could be a valuable connection down the line, five or ten years from now. Don’t be afraid to ask your new colleagues out for quick coffee chats or request 15-minute informational interviews about their career trajectory.

Career Exploration

Internship opportunities for education students can foster great exploration of the field, since there are so many paths in education to consider and understand. Internships are meant to guide you toward your true desired career path, and your summer education internship could kick it off in the right direction.

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How to Secure an Education Internship

Getting an internship in education is exciting, considering the sheer amount of universities and organizations that need capable educators. When searching for education internships, it’s key to use the location filters provided on Handshake. You’ll be able to pinpoint education internships exactly where you want to intern just by selecting the city you want in the search bar. Education internships in your preferred city are just a search away.

Resume and Profile Tips

Before you get started on sending out applications, make sure that you have your resume up to date and have fully filled out all your Handshake profile details. With a complete profile, an impressive education internship is more attainable than ever. Recruiters are much more likely to message a student with a complete profile that says you want to work in education than an unfinished one. When putting together your resume, make sure to have all your skills, courses, and accomplishments laid out for employers to view. Also, having your preferred job role and location on your Handshake profile is a great way to signal your interest to potential recruiters. For education majors, some great skills to list would be specific teaching skills, time management, the ability to follow through and execute projects, and the ability to contribute and collaborate as a leader.

Interview Preparation

When you do land your first interview, be it a virtual interview or in person, make sure to come prepared and dressed to impress. Review your resume and cover letter to make sure you have specific examples of your experience to share, from clubs or coursework. You can even schedule a mock interview with your university’s career center or, if you’re tight on time, ask a trusted friend to grill you on some common interview questions.

Types of Education Internships

As a major with so many career path options, choosing to study education gives you many types of roles to consider. There will always be an opening for a great education internship, as the field is always offering internships for aspiring teachers. For internships, it doesn’t matter if you’re on the hunt for remote education internships, health education internships, environmental education internships, museum education internship, or education internships in NYC. Handshake also makes it easy to learn about roles in education simply by using the job role search bar. And if you want to take your research one step further, you can even research top employers in the education field on Handshake. Just by using the Handshake employer search feature you can discover companies that are hiring in your specific field by filtering by “Industry.”

Here are some specific roles and companies where you can find internships:

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Special Education Teacher

Special education teachers work with students who have any learning, emotional, mental, or physical disabilities. The teachers will often adapt lesson plans to meet the needs of their students while also teaching social and life skills.

Companies to apply to: Lifespan, College Possible, Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health

High School Teacher

High school teachers are responsible for educating students from ninth through twelfth grade, often in more than one subject area, such as English, mathematics, biology, and history.

Companies to apply to: Teach for America, EF Education First, BASIS Charter Schools

School Psychologists

School psychologists offer mental health and therapy services to students facing emotional, behavioral, and learning challenges. As they work at a school, they help students with any issues they may be encountering both in their academic and personal lives by offering support and advice backed by their background in counseling psychology.

Companies to apply to: Youth Villages, Alternate Behavior Strategies

Librarian

Librarians assist with searching for information and also conduct their own research.

Companies to apply to: College Possible, Reading Partners, LAC Group

Editor

Editors revise and prepare materials to be published in print and digital media. They often work at newspapers, magazine publications, book publishing houses, and media networks.

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Companies to apply to: Quibbl, Hearst Magazines, Paravane Ventures

Copywriter

Copywriters are in charge of writing compelling content both for a company’s internal and external English.

Featured Internship Programs

To further assist with your search, here are some noteworthy education internship programs:

Ladder's University Internship Program: This remote program places students in roles with startups and nonprofits, including those focused on education. Interns work on real projects, develop teaching tools, analyze learning platforms, and create content for edtech apps.
Breakthrough AmeriCorps Summer Teaching Fellowship: This immersive summer teaching experience allows fellows to lead lessons in core subjects for middle school students. The program includes training, mentorship, and community-building activities.
Center for Urban Teaching (CfUT) Summer Teaching Fellowship: This program provides a realistic, hands-on introduction to teaching in an urban school setting, including training and classroom experience.
The Education Project Tutoring Program: Pairs interns with K-12 students from low-income and minority backgrounds for one-on-one virtual tutoring in core subjects like math and reading.
Claudine K. Brown Internship in Education: Located at the Smithsonian, this internship offers hands-on experience in creating educational programs and resources for diverse audiences.
Student Internship Program - Every Learner Everywhere: This remote program focuses on digital learning equity, with interns working on projects aligned with their skills and interests.
Servant Leader Intern - Freedom School Partners Internship: This program places interns in a dynamic summer program where they lead a classroom of scholars and deliver the Integrated Reading Curriculum.
Department of Education: Interns support departmental projects, gain insights into federal education initiatives, and develop both personal and professional skills.
UPchieve Volunteer Tutoring Program: Places interns in a flexible, online tutoring role where you work one-on-one with low-income middle and high school students to support their academic growth and college readiness.
Education Technology Nonprofit Internships - Educators of America: This remote role lets interns gain hands-on experience in the nonprofit and education sectors while contributing to the mission of connecting teachers with the tools, technology, and training they need.
St. Paul's School Advanced Studies Program Summer Teaching Internship: This allows interns to teach and mentor high-achieving students at St. Paul’s School while gaining hands-on experience in a residential academic setting.

Additional Opportunities

Lumiere Research Scholar Program: For those interested in pursuing independent research, this program offers selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford.
Teaching for Change: This organization offers internships/fellowships and volunteer opportunities throughout the year, focusing on promoting an understanding of people’s history of the United States.

Financial Aspects of Education Internships

Paid vs. Unpaid Internships

Yes, you can find paid education internships on Handshake by using the search filters! While some internships are unpaid and volunteer-based, many offer stipends or hourly pay. Paid internships provide financial support and recognize the value of your contributions.

Salary Expectations

The average annual pay for full time education jobs range from $33,280 to $63,000. The average annual pay for full time jobs in education range from $33,280 to $63,000.

Maximizing Your Internship Experience

Setting Goals

Along with networking and gaining mentorship, education interns will spend time working on skills great for later in their career journeys. Education interns will learn how to plan and execute concrete goals, communicate their visions effectively, project manage and collaborate with others on a shared goal.

Continuous Learning

Looking for specific advice before your internship begins? Or are you hungry for further information even after your internship is over? A good way to delve even deeper into your career path growth is to attend a virtual event or two. Not only will you be learning more about your own career, but there will also be chances to network with employers, industry specialists, and other students sharing different perspectives.

Skills to Highlight

During your education internship, you’ll learn some great generic skills like time management, confidence, organization, and leadership. Additionally, you’ll be immersed in the world of education which will help you develop your knowledge of industry standards and how to manage education projects effectively.

The Value of Internships

While it's not required, internships are great opportunities for growth and experience. From science education internships for undergraduates to internships for elementary education majors, you’ll be able to build both hard and soft skills and network.

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