Earning Academic Credit

The Washington Center Internship Program is a rigorous academic experience and if you are an undergraduate student, you will be required to earn credit for your participation. This credit would be awarded directly by your home institution, not by TWC. Colleges and universities that are affiliated with TWC have already agreed to award credit for this program; students should speak with their campus liaison about the applicable policies and procedures.

Pursue Your Academic Interests

An academic course is an integral part of your Washington Center experience. You’ll be able to choose one from approximately 30 courses typically offered each semester or summer term.

These are serious academic courses that, combined with the internship, can help you earn credit at your home college or university. They have in many cases a direct relationship to the work you’re doing throughout the week, and range from politics, business and economics to international affairs and communications.

The Portfolio is a tool that many universities and graduate schools use to help students demonstrate what they have accomplished during the semester. The Portfolio helps students link classroom learning with their professional work at their internship. Your final portfolio will be sent to your college or university. Many students present their portfolios to potential future employers as documentation of their skills and abilities.

Goals of the Portfolio

At The Washington Center, we define civil society as the arena in which people come together to pursue the interests they hold in common – not for profit or political power, but because they care enough about something to take collective action.

Students are provided the opportunity to become positive change agents by participating in civic engagement projects on important domestic and international issues. They learn about the issue by interacting with national and local community leaders and participate in a direct service and/or advocacy project. Students can choose to join a TWC-guided project, or design their own individual project. 

Programming Areas

The Alan K. Simpson - Norman Y. Mineta Leaders Series

Public Policy Dialogues on Capitol Hill (PPDCH), sponsored by Verizon Wireless, provide students with the unique opportunity to meet and interact with members of the Senate or Congress representing their state or congressional district.

The purpose of the PPDCH exercise is to:

Build Your Professional Network

Over 1,000 nonprofit, international, private sector, and government agencies work with The Washington Center’s interns each year because the program offers quality, diversity, support and selection. Below are some of the partner organizations where TWC students have interned. Please note this list is not exhaustive and includes only a sampling of organizations at which TWC participants have interned. Available positions vary by term.

Arts, Humanities & Education