The following listing includes links to a sample of organizations that offer internships to undergraduates. If you have questions about specific internships or you would like information on obtaining course credit in conjunction with such work, contact Professor Matt Harrigan at mharrigan@scu.edu.
In addition to this listing, students should consult the following websites:
- Santa Clara Career Center's internship and job search platform, Handshake
- Job search engines such as PoliCorner, Idealist, Indeed, LinkedIn, and Zip Recruiter
Students seeking financial assistance to facilitate an internship and/or project should consider the REAL Program provided by SCU’s College of Arts and Sciences.
Students interested in fellowships and training programs should visit our Fellowships and Programs listing.
Note that many internships have very early deadlines, so interested students should investigate and apply well in advance of target start dates. This is especially true for internships in public law, law enforcement, and the federal government.
Bay Area Opportunities
California Legislature
- Assemblymember Ash Kalra
- Assemblymember Alex Lee
- Assemblymember Evan Low
- Assemblymember Gail Pellerin
- Senator Dave Cortese
- Senator Aisha Wahab
- Asian Pacific Islander Capital Association Summer Internship (internships at the State Capitol, various states)
Law Enforcement
Local Government
- City of Campbell
- City of San Jose (general listing)
- City of Santa Clara
- San Jose City Council (Contact individual member offices to apply.)
- San Jose City Manager – Office of Intergovernmental Relations (Contact mharrigan@scu.edu for details.)
- San Jose Mayor's Office
- Santa Clara County (general listing)
Non-Profit
- 50+1 Strategies
- African American Community Service Agency
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- Asia Society of Northern California
- Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs
- Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council
- Californians for Justice
- Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County
- Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (through SCU's Ciocca Center)
- Clean Water Action
- Dream Corps
- Equal Rights Advocates
- Future Leaders In Public Service
- Hidden Villa
- Immigration Institute of the Bay Area
- Independent California Colleges Advocates Program (ICCCAP)
- International Rescue Committee
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- Latino Community Foundation
- SCU's Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Non-Profit Housing Association of Northern California
- Northern California Innocence Project
- Public Health Institute
- Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC)
- San José Peace and Justice Center
- Sierra Club of San Francisco Bay
- Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits
- Silicon Valley Leadership Group
- Transgender Law Center
Public Law
- Alameda County District Attorney
- California Courts
- Bay Area JusticeCorps and Access 2 Justice
- San Francisco District Attorney
- San Mateo County District Attorney
- Santa Clara County District Attorney
- Santa Clara County Office of Pretrial Services
- Santa Clara County Public Defender
- Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
U.S. Congress
- Congresswoman Anna Eshoo (Palo Alto)
- Congressman Ro Khanna (Santa Clara)
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco)
- Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (San Jose)
- Congressman Kevin Mullin (San Mateo)
- Senator Dianne Feinstein (San Francisco)
- Senator Alex Padilla(San Francisco)
Washington, D.C. and Other U.S. Opportunities
Executive Branch
- Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- Department of Commerce
- Department of Defense
- Department of Energy
- Department of Homeland Security
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
- Department of Justice
- Department of Labor
- Department of State
- Department of Transportation
- Department of the Treasury
- Department of Veterans Affairs
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
- Federal Reserve System
- Federal bureaucracy internships (Search here for internships across the federal government, in DC and various states.)
- Intelligence Community
- National Parks Service
- Virtual Student Federal Service
- The White House
- Tom Manatos Jobs (Job board for congressional, administration, non-profit, private sector, and campaign jobs)
- USA Jobs
Judicial Branch
Legislative Branch
- U.S. House of Representatives
- U.S. Senate
- Congresswoman Anna Eshoo
- Congressman Ro Khanna
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
- Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren
- Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program
- Senator Dianne Feinstein
- Senator Alex Padilla
- Library of Congress
- Congressional Internship Program
Non-Profits, Think Tanks, and Academic Institutions
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
- American Enterprise Institute
- Amnesty International
- Asian Pacific Islander Capital Association Summer Internship
- Aspen Institute
- Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs (APSIA)
- Atlantic Council
- Better World Campaign
- Bipartisan Policy Center
- Brookings Institution
- Cato Institute
- Center for American Progress
- Center for Strategic & International Studies
- Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress
- Clean Water Action
- Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership
- Congressional Black Caucus Foundation
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Defense Counterintelligence & Security Agency
- Democracy Lab
- Doctors Without Borders
- Environment America
- Environmental and Energy Study Institute
- Everyday Impact Consulting
- Freedom House
- Future Leaders in Public Service
- Good and Well
- GLAAD
- Heritage Foundation
- Hoover Institution
- Human Rights Campaign
- Institute for the Study of War
- International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
- Islamic Scholarship Fund Congressional Policy Internship
- League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC)
- Mercy Corps
- National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
- National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
- National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
- National Governors Association
- National Organization for Women (NOW)
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- One Sun Health
- Project on Middle East Democracy
- RespectAbility National Leadership Program
- Smithsonian Institution
- Student Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGs)
- The Fund for American Studies (TFAS) Academic Internship Programs
- Udall Native American Congressional Internship Program
- United Nations Association of the USA
- United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
- United Nations Foundation
- United Nations Relations and Policy
- Urban Institute
- U.S Chamber of Commerce Next-Gen Scholars
- U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
Political Parties
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC)
- Democratic National Committee (DNC)
- Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC)
- National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC)
- Republican National Committee (RNC)
State Government