The Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy (MPP)

Graduate Summer Internships in Public Policy

2nd year students work on PRS projects

An internship during the summer between the first and second years is required and is an important element of the master’s program. With assistance from program faculty and staff and the TJPPP Board of Advisors, students locate internships in government agencies (at the local, state and federal levels), private consulting firms, advocacy organizations, or other organizations involved in public policy.

Focus Areas:

Prior Internship Experiences:

The internship is valuable for several reasons. Students learn about particular policy areas; they make contacts that help them find jobs upon graduation; they learn what kinds of careers they are interested in, or not interested in. Many internships are paid, and some pay quite well. Others are unpaid or pay badly. TJPPP can pay a summer stipend to help cover expenses for students with unpaid and underpaid internships.

In the following paragraphs, recent students describe their internship experiences. These brief narratives suggest both the wide range of organizations in which students find internships, and the benefits they derive.

 Student Internship Experiences

"I spent my summer with the Government Relations Office of the National Center for State Courts in Arlington. This group serves as a liaison to state court associations such as the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators and assists state courts in advancing their policy interests. Over the course of the summer, the work that I completed was mainly focused in the area of child welfare, but the Government Relations team has experts in all areas ranging from homeland security to transportation to technology issues to trade agreements, etc. I spent a lot of time outside of the office, attending policy coalition meetings, hearings in the House and Senate, as well as held in the D.C. area on child welfare. I attended most of these events as the sole representative from the organization. I also accompanied various staff members to private meetings with various federal agencies."

"When I was in the office, I drafted policy positions on behalf of the associations mentioned above, followed up on surveys sent to state court staff around the country and wrote executive summaries for the survey results. While the internship was unpaid, I was treated to a week in Salt Lake City in July to attend the annual meeting of the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators."

"This internship was a great experience for me. I was able to observe the inner workings of Washington and work with some very powerful individuals in the court system. I was able to discover the niche in which I hope to focus my career in policy and government - child welfare. I am also very interested in the legal system and was introduced to the area of court management. The scope of the work completed by the National Center for State Courts as a whole is intriguing. This internship led me to a part time job with the National Center in Williamsburg. I have been working 10 hours per week in the Research Division of the organization on an assortment of projects."

 "My summer internship was at the National Center for Environmental Innovation of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Washington, D.C. I researched and authored numerous reports regarding environmental management systems, international integrated permitting efforts, and innovative permitting throughout the United States. The experience was a great opportunity to become acquainted with a government agency in a short amount of time, and learn the true meaning of government bureaucracy. The employees of the agency were very intelligent, motivated, and friendly. I now have a greater appreciation for government work, and look forward to a career in public service."

 "As my interests tend to focus primarily on the social sphere, particularly urban development and housing, I sought an internship at a small nonprofit in Washington D.C. Rebuilding Together (RT) is somewhat akin to Habitat for Humanity; however, rather than constructing new dwellings, RT renovates existing homes. They also specialize in domicilliary modifications for low-income and elderly homeowners; these typically include things such as wheelchair ramps and shower grab-bars. I served as the Congressional Initiative Intern, acting as a liaison between RT, their pro bono lobbying firm, and Congress at large. My main tasks revolved around designing a handbook for establishing Congressional contacts complete with phone/address lists and districting maps detailing which RT affiliate offices were located in which representatives' districts. As Rebuilding Together has been advocating for Congress to allocate additional funds for home modification efforts, I spent much of my summer researching the Appropriations Committees and making contacts within those offices. On the whole, my experience was very worthwhile, allowing me to attain some hands-on knowledge of non-profit organizations, Congressional work, and D.C. lobbying."

"I interned this past summer with Deloitte & Touche (an accounting and consulting firm) in the McLean , VA office. Although I was hired into Deloitte's Data Quality& Integrity division and intended to do SAS programming and data analysis, I was actually able to work on a federal consulting project for the Department of Labor (DOL) for most of the summer. Our project for DOL involved assisting the agency with their compliance with the Improper Payments and Information Act (IPIA), a federal mandate for all agencies. I worked onsite at DOL with a small team of Deloitte consultants doing a variety of tasks: drafting deliverable documents for our client, researching DOL programs to determine which required compliance with IPIA, developing a database of audit findings, and drafting an instructional document to explain a SAS program our team wrote for the client. My internship gave me the opportunity to see the processes of the federal government, but I was able to work for (and be paid by!) a large private company."

"I worked for the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) in Washington, D.C. My main tasks were two-fold: (1) compile and analyze data from the Internet Crimes Against Children program and (2) evaluate a parent tutorial CD-ROM regarding Internet safety that will be delivered to parents nationwide and set up a database for the presentation's survey results. While those two assignments took up most of my time, I had the opportunity to work on a grant solicitation draft, go to Texas and conduct a focus group for the parent program and compile departmental information for the Senate and White House. Furthermore, I had the privilege of receiving undercovering training for talking with sexual predators online with Virginian law enforcement officers and FBI agents. Overall, working with the Justice Department exposed me to many wonderful experiences. Interns had the opportunity to meet the Attorney General, Assistant Attorney General and even the US Vice President. On a random trip to Bedford County , VA , I met Shaquille O'Neal, who is the spokesman for the county's Safe Surfing program. In sum, I enjoyed both the assignments and the fellow workers of my internship."