Internship requirements vary by degree level, field of study, and university. Some degrees require internships for work experience or professional certification. Hours can range from 60 to 2,000, and may be paid or unpaid. Online programs may require additional hours to ensure graduates have hands-on experience.
For many people pursuing advanced degrees, an internship experience will be a requirement for graduation. Although they are more common in masters or doctorates, some undergraduate courses also require them. As a result, required internship hours vary greatly between schools and academic disciplines. The requirements to obtain a doctoral degree, for example, often require many more internship hours than a bachelor’s degree. The purpose of the internship can also affect the number of hours required; for some fields it is simply intended to be a supplemental learning experience such as an internship, while for others it is an absolute requirement to gain work experience in order to obtain a professional certificate or license.
Each college or university that requires an internship from its candidate applicant will specify the number of hours of anticipated internship. Students will often be required to pay for the internship experience if they are earning college credits, but most internships are unpaid for the period. If payment is received, it is usually quite minimal. The number of internship hours required for each student can typically range from 60 to 2,000 hours. The former represents part-time work over a semester, generally, while the latter is equivalent to a year of full-time work.
For Ph. Undergraduate or Master’s students will likely need significantly less, but again, this depends on the course and university decision. Not all degrees require internship experience, but those that do are usually adamant about completing work as needed.
Whether a student is completing a degree program in a traditional or online educational environment is another factor that often affects the internship hour requirement. Many online degree programs, particularly those that are regionally accredited and therefore more rigorous for students, will require an additional number of internship hours to ensure that their graduates have hands-on experience in their chosen field. This will certainly happen with the masters and doctoral programs offered online, as it is very important for the school that the graduates they produce are competent and able to be hired, as this will reflect positively on the school and encourage future enrollments.
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