UT Austin Summer Internships: A Comprehensive Guide for College Students

Embarking on a summer internship is a pivotal step for college students, offering invaluable real-world experience, professional development, and a competitive edge in the job market. The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) provides a wealth of resources and opportunities to help students secure meaningful summer internships. This guide aims to provide a comprehensive overview of UT Austin's summer internship programs, resources, and essential tips for success.

Planning for a Successful Internship

Securing and excelling in a summer internship requires careful planning and proactive engagement. UT Austin offers guidance to help students navigate the process effectively. To have a successful internship, students should:

Plan ahead: Meeting deadlines is crucial for securing the desired internship and completing all necessary requirements.
Clarify interests and objectives: Understanding personal interests and career goals is the first step in finding the right internship.
Research options: Utilize UT Austin's internship resources to explore available opportunities.
Keep in touch with your BDP advisor: Discuss your plans with your Bridging Disciplines Program (BDP) advisor to ensure the internship aligns with your academic and professional goals.
Assessment: Use the "evaluating internship hosts" document to help you assess potential internship hosts.
Effective internship practices: Learn how to approach your internship to create a meaningful and mutually beneficial experience by reading our effective internship practices document.

Exploring Internship Opportunities

UT Austin provides a variety of resources to help students find internships that align with their interests and career goals.

Texas Career Engagement and College/School Career Centers

Texas Career Engagement and individual college or school career centers offer additional internship resources, guidance, and support. These centers provide personalized assistance with resume building, interview preparation, and job searching.

Online Job Boards

Handshake: A free and open network job board available to students across the globe.
Indeed: Create a free Indeed account to upload your resume and browse job and internship positions by location. Filter results based on your requirements, research reviews of the organization to learn more, and set up job alerts for new job postings.
Idealist: Create a free Idealist account to search for jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities with nonprofit organizations. Search and apply for jobs by title, skill, or organization.
Glassdoor: Create a free Glassdoor account to search jobs and to examine employee reviews of companies.

Home to Texas Program

The Home to Texas program focuses on connecting UT Austin students with internship opportunities in their hometowns or communities with which they have strong ties. This program addresses the issue of talent loss in small and mid-sized Texas towns, encouraging students to contribute to their local communities.

Eligibility: Must have lived in or have a permanent residence in a participating Home to Texas community (or within a 30‑minute drive of one). This typically refers to the Texas community where you were born, grew up, moved to at a young age, or have lived at the longest.
Focus: The program offers a variety of placements primarily focusing on internships that can provide students with a general professional skills foundation that can then be applied to any career path. Priority industries target internships with public organizations, such as city government departments, economic development offices, school districts, or airports as well as nonprofit organizations.
Professional Development: Since Home to Texas takes place early during a student’s time at UT, participating employers typically offer broad professional development opportunities related to teamwork, time management, office communication, etc.
Program Structure: Participants are enrolled in a zero-credit course, EXP 000. While students do not receive credits for this course, it does show up on their transcript.
Commitment: Students should be willing to fully focus and commit to the entire length of the program.
Community Selection: Home to Texas communities are selected based on different factors including employer interest, type of employer, available funding, community needs, and level of student interest.

Academic Credit and Special Tuition Rates

UT Austin recognizes the value of internships and offers academic credit for certain internship experiences.

Summer Internship Courses

UT Austin is committed to making internships accessible to students of all financial backgrounds, including by offering special rates on credit-bearing summer internship courses.

\$500 for one- and three-hour internship courses
\$1,000 for six-hour internship courses
\$1,500 for nine-hour internship courses

The registration fee for these summer internship courses is the same for all students, regardless of residency status.

Registration and Requirements

Registration opens Monday, April 6, and approval is required before you can enroll*. Internship course and degree requirements vary, and some internship programs may require approval by faculty, career services or another office. Check with your academic advisor about the process and timeline before enrolling.

*You will be directed to the registration page for your internship course when you receive approval from your advisor, career services office, faculty member or other internship coordinating office.

Read also: Understanding UT Austin GPA

Professional Skills Course

Students participating in the Home to Texas program take a summer professional skills course that meets weekly during their internship to support their learning and development. The student application opens at the beginning of the spring semester for the upcoming summer and closes mid-February.

Connecting Experiences and BDP Certificates

Connecting Experiences give you the opportunity to customize your BDP certificate. BDP students have interned with a wide variety of businesses and non-profits, such as Intel, the Contemporary Austin, Kimberley Clark, the MD Anderson Cancer Center, and more.

Ethical Considerations

No matter what type of project you do for your Connecting Experience, make sure to consider the potential challenges and rewards of engaging with a new community. What does it mean to be a responsible social justice practitioner? See handout on responsible community engagement for more information.

Avoiding Scams and Ensuring Legitimacy

For every job opportunity you explore, you should make sure the organization or employer is legitimate and is offering an authentic opportunity. Be mindful of red flags, such as an employer initially requesting money for training materials.

Resources for Academic Advisors

UEX has developed a list of FAQs to provide guidance for academic advisors on how summer internship courses work for UT Austin students.

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