With the start of the school year right around the corner, the pressure to find a fall internship is kicking into high gear. Writing cover letters and perfecting resumes while completing summer courses, jobs and internships is an all-too familiar but necessary stress for many students.
One major factor students consider when applying to internships throughout the year is whether or not it’s a paid opportunity. For students with unpaid internships, GW currently offers the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund — which provides a stipend of up to $3,000 to help alleviate financial burdens caused by an unsalaried post. In the past year, 125 students have received KACIF grants. But the abrupt application timeline, which closes this week, prevents many students from having the opportunity to apply because they need to secure an internship beforehand. This is problematic given that many students are only notified about internships in August.
The University should adjust their application deadlines to match internship acceptance deadlines so that more students can have the opportunity to apply for the grant. As it currently stands, KACIF stops accepting applications weeks before many students are notified of their acceptance to internships.
KACIF, established by the GW Career Services Council in 2013, aims to “pursue high-quality, necessarily unpaid internships that foster their career exploration and enhance their academic program, while reducing the financial challenges associated with unpaid internships.” But the restrictive deadlines prohibits so many GW students from accessing this useful and generous grant.
KACIF data from 2013 to 2016 shows that the program