Internships

To register your internship for credit (or as a noncredit internship), you will need to submit an Experience Learning Agreement (ELA). ELAs are available for submission through Handshake.

How to Submit ELAs Through Handshake

1. Log in to your Handshake account.
2. Click Career Center.
3. Click on Experiences from the Career Center page.
4. Click Submit an Experience.
5. Choose the relevant template from the drop-down menu.
6. Fill out the Experience Form.
7. Click the green Submit an Experience button.

Allow ten days for the approval process to take place. You are not permitted to work until the approval process is complete and, if you are an international student, your Curricular Practical Training (CPT) has been issued.

For additional information, please email [email protected].

• The Experience Office will review your Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) to ensure that it aligns with your program's policies. Once the office has approved the ELA, your supervisor will complete their portion of the ELA and approve it. (They will receive an email with instructions for completing the ELA after you submit it.)  Note: Depending on your program of study, your ELA may require approval by your school or department.  This is done automatically. You will be notified if you are required to obtain additional permissions.
• If you are an international student, ISSS will review your CPT eligibility.
• Once your ELA has been approved by your supervisor and preliminarily approved by ISSS, Experience will review your ELA and register you for the internship course.
• After your ELA has been fully approved, you will receive a letter of eligibility stating that you will receive credit for the internship.
  
  

If you need a Social Security number for this internship, you will need to apply for one with the Social Security Administration (SSA). To begin that process, you will need to submit an iGlobal request to have a SSN letter of eligibility issued by Experience. (Learn more about the SSN process.) If you have previously been issued a SSN for a past experience, you do not need to apply for a new number.

You can check the status of your ELA by emailing [email protected] or by checking your ELA on Handshake.

The amount of time an Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) takes to process varies and depends on how long it takes your supervisor to approve their portion. You should allow ten work days for processing.

For internship registration-related questions, please write to [email protected].

Apart from meeting the degree-level requirements and internship policies for your specific program, there is no prerequisite for registering for an internship. However, it is strongly recommended that you attend the internship workshops held at the start of the fall and spring semesters. For a schedule of upcoming workshops, log in to Handshake.

If the supervisor delay is more than a week after you have submitted the Experience Learning Agreement (ELA), please follow up by emailing or calling them. If they need assistance in completing the ELA, please direct them to contact [email protected]. 

If your supervisor requires a letter of eligibility, please contact the Experience Office at [email protected].

You can begin your internship once your Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) has been fully approved.

If you are an international student, you must wait to begin your internship until the CPT experience has been added to your I-20.

Yes; students can receive academic credit for an internship in which they receive compensation.

You can use the Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) to document an internship that takes place anywhere in the world. Keep in mind that the country you are interning in may require other documentation beyond the ELA.

To participate in an internship in France, you must complete a convention de stage, required by the French government, in addition to the Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) that The New School requires to register your internship.

The convention de stage form is here. Please follow the steps below: 

1. Complete the student and employer portions of the convention de stage form.
2. Give your employer the completed copy and have them sign it.
3. Scan a copy of all the pages and email it to [email protected].
4. Upon successful registration in the course, we will send the form to you signed by a New School official.

We encourage you to allow as much time as possible to process the convention de stage and ELA.

No; students cannot receive credit for an internship that took place in a past semester. Internships can be registered only during the semester in which they take place.

Your internship must fall within the dates of each semester. Be sure to take into account final projects and other coursework when planning your end date, so that you're not overwhelmed at the end of the semester.

Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

For students participating in the Internship Seminar or the Advanced Internship, the internship must last a minimum of 12 weeks. During the summer session, the internship must last a minimum of eight weeks. Students participating in the Internship option need only meet the 60-hour-minimum requirement.

Parsons School of Design, Mannes School of Music, and the School of Drama

In order to maintain a balance between coursework and the internship experience, students cannot work more than 15 hours per week during the fall or spring semester without the approval of their success advisor. Students can work up to full-time during the summer semester. The following criteria can be used when determining whether it is appropriate to allow a student to intern more than 15 hours a week at an internship:

• Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• No disciplinary action
• Good academic standing (not on academic probation)
• Program eligibility (e.g., must be in second semester of an AAS program or at least a sophomore or junior for certain programs)
• Number of credits being taken this semester
• Degree of difficulty of classes
• Job duties at internship
• Class schedule (internships cannot conflict with classes)

Students must work a minimum of 60 hours total to receive credit for a one-credit internship and a minimum of 120 hours to receive credit for a two-credit internship. Supervisors will be asked on the final evaluation to verify that the student has worked the agreed-upon number of hours for the semester.

A student cannot work more hours than the number specified on the experience learning agreement.

Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, Milano, BPATS, and NSSR

Students may not intern for more than 40 hours per week. Hours exceeding that number in a single week will not be counted for program requirements, nor will those additional hours be eligible for use at a later date in the semester.

School of Jazz and Contemporary Music

Students can register from 0 to 3 credits for an internship experience during the fall, spring, or summer session. Students must work at least 60 hours per credit.

School of Media Studies

Students can earn up to 3 credits per internship. Students can earn a total of 6 internship credits toward their degree: 3 research internship credits and 3 production internship credits. Research internships are typically more administrative, and production internships deal more with content creation, including production assistantship, graphic design, and audio design. There is no limit to the number of zero-credit production and research internships a student can undertake. Students registered for 3 non-internship credits can undertake an internship for up to 40 hours per week, students registered for 6 non-internship credits can undertake an internship for up to 30 hours per week, and students registered for 9 non-internship credits can undertake an internship for up to 20 hours per week.

If you are planning to take any breaks or take off for school holidays during the semester, please communicate this to your supervisor as early in the internship as possible. Your supervisor will most likely assume that you are working your regularly scheduled work hours during school holidays, such as spring break. 

Be sure to take into account final projects and other coursework when planning your internship end date, so that you're not overwhelmed at the end of the semester.

By selecting a zero-credit internship option, you register an internship with The New School that will be officially recognized and recorded on your transcript without the payment of full tuition for credits. The zero-credit internship registration process is the same as the process of registering an internship for a higher credit amount.

Students registering an internship for more than zero credits may be required to pay per-credit tuition in order to receive credit for the internship. For information about the per-credit tuition amount for your program, please visit the Tuition and Billing webpage and/or consult with your academic advisor on your specific situation.

You can elect to register for a zero-credit internship. There are several common reasons for choosing this option:

• You are already carrying the maximum number of credits for the semester and wish to register for an internship without incurring additional tuition charges.
• You have earne the maximum number of internship credits allowed by your academic department. 
• You are interning during the summer and do not wish to pay tuition for internship credit. Note that you will still need to pay a registration fee to register a zero-credit internship. Please visit the Fees and Billing webpage and/or consult with your academic advisor on your specific situation.

Family members cannot be internship supervisors. Students can work with or for an immediate family member but cannot be supervised by them.

Learning objectives are goals and objectives that students hope to achieve through internships. The New School strongly recommends that you work with your supervisor to set useful, reasonable internship learning objectives. The New School formalizes this process by requiring that learning objectives be outlined on the Experience Learning Agreement and that the student's progress on these objectives be documented in a mid-term evaluation and a final evaluation.

Use the guidelines below to establish learning objectives with your supervisor.

• Professionalism/Work Ethic: Personal accountability and effective work habits
  (punctuality, time management, and understand the impact of nonverbal communication
  on professional work image). Demonstrate integrity and ethical behaviors; act
  responsibly, with the interests of the larger community in mind; and be able to learn from
  mistakes.
• Oral Communication/Written Communication: Articulate thoughts and ideas clearly
  and effectively in written and oral forms to people in and outside of the
  organization. Demonstrate public speaking skills and the ability to express ideas and write and edit memos,
  letters, and complex technical reports clearly and effectively.
• Critical Thinking: Exercise sound reasoning to analyze issues and make decisions.
• Problem Solving: Able to overcome problems by obtaining, interpreting, and using
  knowledge, facts, and data.
• Teamwork/Collaboration: Able to build collaborative relationships with colleagues and
  customers of diverse cultures, races, ages, genders, religions, lifestyles, and
  viewpoints. Able to work within a team structure and negotiate and manage conflict.
• Digital Technology: Leverage existing digital technologies ethically and efficiently to
  solve problems, complete tasks, and accomplish goals. Demonstrate ability to adapt to
  new and emerging technologies.
• Global/Intercultural Fluency: Value, respect, and learn from people of diverse cultures, races,
  ages, genders, sexual orientations, and religions. Demonstrate openness,
  inclusiveness, sensitivity, and the ability to interact respectfully with all people and
  understand individuals’ differences.
• Leadership: Leverage the strengths of others to achieve common goals, and use
  interpersonal skills to coach and develop others. Able to assess and manage emotions
  and those of others. Able to use empathetic skills to guide and motivate. Able to organize, set priorites for,
  and delegate work.
• Career Management: Identify and articulate skills, strengths, knowledge, and
  experiences relevant to the position desired and career goals and identify areas
  necessary for professional growth. Able to navigate and explore job options.
  Understand and be able to take the steps necessary to pursue opportunities and understand
  how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace.

Parsons School of Design, College of Performing Arts, and School of Media Studies

You must be a junior or senior, be enrolled in an associate's program, or be in the second year of a master's program to be eligible to submit more than one Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) in a single semester. You must notify the supervisors at both of the internship sites by email (cc'ing [email protected]) that you are participating in more than one internship during the semester.

Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

Students can participate in up to two credit-bearing internships per semester provided at least one of the internships is registered in the 0-2 internship program.

If you're not sure how to handle something that comes up at your internship or have any questions, contact us at [email protected] so that we can help you with next steps.

Your supervisor will hold a midterm evaluation with you at the halfway point of your internship to assess your experience and performance. Midterm evaluations should take place face-to-face and involve:

• Engaging in open dialogue with your supervisor about how you think the internship is progressing
• Being assessed on your work
• Reviewing your learning objectives and progress toward achieving them
• Establishing corrective measures to enable you to accomplish your goals

To submit a midterm evaluation or a final evaluation on Handshake, follow these steps:

1. Access Experiences: Log in to Handshake and navigate to the Experiences section from the left-hand menu.
2. Select Experience: Choose the relevant experience (internship, research, etc.) that requires evaluation.
3. Complete Evaluation Form: After you have received the evaluation link sent by email to your New School account, answer all the required fields in the survey provided.
4. Submit Evaluation: After filling out the form, click the Submit Evaluation button to complete the process. A confirmation message will appear after the evaluation has been successfully submitted.

Your supervisor will provide a final evaluation for your internship. You must also provide a final evaluation of your internship to assess your experience and performance. This evaluation forms the basis for your internship grade.

To submit your final evaluation on Handshake, follow these steps:

1. Access Experiences: Log in to Handshake and navigate to the Experiences section from the left-hand menu.
2. Select Experience: Choose the relevant experience (internship, research, etc.) that requires evaluation.
3. Complete Evaluation Form: After you have received the evaluation link sent by email to your New School account, answer all the required fields in the survey provided.
4. Submit Evaluation: After filling out the form, click the Submit Evaluation button to complete the process. A confirmation message will appear after the evaluation has been successfully submitted.

Please email [email protected] for assistance. It is strongly recommended that you consult with the Experience Office before quitting the internship. 

If your supervisor changes during the internship, please let us know by emailing [email protected] with the name, title, email, and phone number of your new supervisor so that we can update your experience learning agreement and make sure that there is no delay with collecting your supervisor's evaluation at the end of the semester.

Even if you work the minimum hours required for your credit amount, you must work until the end date indicated on your agreement. If you do need to change your end date, you should discuss this with your supervisor and then contact Experience so that we can update the end date in your agreement. If you are leaving the internship before the end date indicated on your Experience Learning Agreement (ELA), there is a possibility that the employer may not give you a passing evaluation. Please contact us at [email protected] if you want to end your internship early.

Parsons School of Design, College of Performing Arts, and Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment

Internship credit is determined not only by the number of hours you work but also by the evaluation that we receive from your supervisor. Your supervisor will be contacted by Experience with instructions for completing the evaluation at the end of the semester. You will be able to view this evaluation once it is complete.

Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

The work performed at your internship site and the internship seminar/coursework are both integral components of your final grade. Depending on the section, Lang interns receive a letter grade or P/F grade. The internship grade is based on a combination of factors including seminar attendance, assigned coursework, and hours on-site.

Bachelor's Program for Adults and Transfer Students and School of Media Studies

Internship credit is determined not only by the number of hours you work but also by the evaluation that we receive from your supervisor. Your supervisor will be contacted by Experience with instructions for completing the evaluation at the end of the semester. You will be able to view this evaluation once it is complete. You will also be required to submit a final essay to your instructor at the end of the semester.

Employers submit midterm and final evaluations for students' co-ops or internships through Handshake by following the step below. Final evaluations need to be submitted no later than the last day of classes of the semester in which the internships are completed. Handshake will automatically request your final evaluation by email before the end of the semester.

1. Receive evaluation email: Employers will be sent an email notification from the university’s career services, which includes a link to the evaluation form for both midterm and final evaluations.
2. Access the Form: Click the link in the email, which connects to the Handshake evaluation form. (You do not need a Handshake account to access the form.)
3. Complete the Evaluation: Fill out the form, which typically includes questions related to student performance, using criteria such as career readiness competencies (e.g., communication, teamwork, and professionalism).
4. Submit the Evaluation: Once the form is completed, submit the evaluation directly through the provided link. Professors and career services use these evaluations for grading and assessing the student's progress.

To view the internship supervisor's or employer's evaluation for your internship, please email [email protected].

If your supervisor does not submit an evaluation before the last day of classes, you will receive an I grade (Incomplete). If you have questions, please email [email protected].

F-1 or J-1 international students who wish to work off campus must obtain work authorization before beginning the work experience. They must obtain work authorization for any kind of work that is paid or unpaid.  

F-1 International Students
The most common off-campus work authorization for a F-1 student during the academic program is Curricular Practical Training (CPT). Other kinds of work authorization and eligibility can be discussed with ISSS.

To request CPT, you submit an Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) through Handshake. Please ensure that your experience meets with the policies set by your program of study.

1. Log into your Handshake account.

2. Click Career Center.

3. Click Experiences from your Career Center’s page.

4. Click Submit an Experience.

5. Choose the relevant template from the drop-down menu.

6. Fill out the Experience Form.

7. Click the green Submit an Experience button.

Allow ten days for the approval process to take place. You are not permitted to work until the approval process is complete and, if you are an international student, your CPT is issued. 

J-1 International Students
If you are a J-1 student who wishes to work off campus, you do not need to submit an ELA unless you require the credits for your degree program in exchange for your off-campus work experience. 

However, you will need authorization from your sponsoring institution in the United States if you wish to work off campus in a paid or unpaid position.

If you are sponsored by The New School, you will need to submit an Academic Training request in iGlobal and provide an appointment or offer letter. If you are sponsored by the International Institute of Education (IIE) or other institutions, you will need to connect with your sponsor to find out how to get off-campus work authorization.

If you are an F-1 student, you do not need to submit any forms besides the Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) to have Curricular Practical Training (CPT) work authorization updated on your I-20. After you complete the ELA, your application will be reviewed by the Experience Office and ISSS. You are not authorized to work until you have received your I-20 with approved CPT, employer name, and dates listed. Please allow ten working days for your ELA to be fully processed and your CPT issued. You may need to adjust your start date accordingly.

J-1 students are not required to complete an Experience Learning Agreement unless they are required to receive credit from The New School by their home institution abroad or by their degree program at The New School. However, they are required to complete an Academic Training request in iGlobal.

If you need a Social Security number for your work experience, you must apply for one with the Social Security Administration (SSA). To begin that process, you must submit an iGlobal request to have a SSN letter issued. Learn more about the SSN process. If you have been issued a SSN for a past experience, you do not need to apply for a new number.

ISSS recommends that students be cautious with the term “volunteer.” Many unpaid experiences may be considered unpaid work rather than volunteering. Like any other off-campus work, unpaid work requires work authorization and approval from ISSS.

Volunteer Definition by the U.S. Department of Labor:

The U.S. Department of Labor follows judicial guidance in the case of individuals serving as unpaid volunteers in various community services. Individuals who volunteer or donate their services, usually on a part-time basis, for public service, religious or humanitarian objectives, not as employees and without contemplation of pay, are not considered employees of the religious, charitable or similar non-profit organizations that receive their service.

For example, members of civic organizations may help out in a sheltered workshop; men's or women's organizations may send members or students into hospitals or nursing homes to provide certain personal services for the sick or elderly; parents may assist in a school library or cafeteria as a public duty to maintain effective services for their children.

The Department of Labor does not consider unpaid work at a for-profit as volunteering. True volunteering is for altruistic purposes at a nonprofit for public service, religious, or humanitarian objectives. Any work or volunteer opportunity you consider doing off campus should be brought to the Experience Office first to review.

In order to be eligible for Curricular Practical Training (CPT), you must:

• Be a full-time degree-level student (in an associate's, bachelor's, master's, PhD, or eligible certificate program)
• Have been lawfully enrolled as a full-time student for at least one full academic year (two consecutive semesters)
• Have maintained lawful F-1 status
• Be in good academic standing
• Have completed an Experience Learning Agreement (ELA) that has been approved by Experience

You may not begin working until you have received the CPT authorization on the updated I-20.

Please read ISSS's Employment Page for more information about CPT eligibility. For more information about whether you qualify for CPT, please schedule an appointment with an ISSS advisor in Starfish or come to ISSS during drop-in advising hours.

If you are determined to be eligible for CPT, you must meet with an ISSS advisor, who will be able to advise on F-1 benefits. You can make an appointment with an ISSS advisor through Starfish by clicking the Services tab and selecting ISSS.