Graduate Internship

About Internships

Internships are highly encouraged by the department, and there are several opportunities offered to you through UConn’s Center for Career Development such as the web-based recruiting system, HuskyCareerLink. ARE majors can earn up to 6 credits (combined) of independent study and internship to fulfill their 24 minimum credit requirement for the MS Plan B degree. MS Plan A students are encouraged to do an internship, but the credits cannot be used for meeting the 24 minimum credit requirement.

List of Required Forms:

Requirements: 

  • You may pursue either an Professional Internship [ARE 5991] or a Practicum in Economic Development [ARE 5992]. These titles appear on the academic transcripts. The choice is dictated by the nature of work performed during the internship. In addition, you may choose a short specific descriptor for their internship (which also shows up on the transcripts).
  • The internship work can be either paid or unpaid, but it has to be related to the general areas covered by the ARE major. It is not necessary for the employer to have any formal arrangement with the University of Connecticut or with the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
  • To receive internship credits, you need to enroll for an appropriate number of credits either for ARE 5991 or for ARE 5992 by filling out the Independent Study Authorization form. The authorization card has space to note the optional internship descriptor. The card needs to be signed by the instructor of the internship, your advisor, and the department head.
  • The ARE Internship Learning Contract needs to be signed by the internship supervisor, as well as the Department Head, and submitted to the main office at the same time as the Authorization Card.
  • During the internship, you are required to keep a weekly log of their achievements, challenges, and how your work aligned with the goals set in the Learning Contract. This log will help prepare you for your final report/paper (to be submitted at the end of the internship). Report/paper length is at the discretion of the faculty advisor, and dependent upon the number of credits earned.
  • The internship work will be graded by your internship instructor on a letter scale.
  • During the summer sessions, a separate tuition fee will be charged by the University for acquiring internship credits.

Guidelines for approving internship credits: 

  • The number of credits received for an internship depends on the number of hours worked. A typical graduate student enrolls for 12 credits during a 14-week semester, working for about 40 hours a week on earning those credits. For the number of credits desired for the internship, you may be expected to work for a proportionate number of hours using the regular course load and effort mentioned above as a guideline.
  • At the end of the internship, you will be required to hand in a report/paper that describes the tasks performed and the knowledge gained, particularly in regards to the goals outlined in the Learning Contract. This report may be sent to the internship instructor by email. In addition, both the employer and you will be required to fill out a brief Evaluation Form in order to assess the extent to which the goals set forth in the Learning Contract were met. It is recommended that the internship grade be based on the your report, as well as both the employer and student evaluations.

For questions/concerns, please contact CAHNR Career Consultant Beth Settje at beth.settje@uconn.edu

Current Internship Opportunities

You should expect to take the initiative in finding an internship opportunity that interests them, and aligns with the Applied & Resource Economics program. The ARE Department recommends contacting governmental institutions, or for-profit or non-profit organizations that appear to do the work you are interested in, even if you do not find information on internships clearly in their website. It never hurts to ask! Below are examples of places that are typically interested in Applied & Resource Economics interns: