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Funding for Unpaid and Underfunded Student Experiences (F.U.S.E.)
Managed by the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement
ApplY in TribeCareers by April 30
With the help of generous donors, including Darr & Susan Barshis, Donald & Barbara Zucker, the Class of 1973, the Class of 1974, Julie Dobson, Chet Thaker, Martha & Daniel Lehman, Curtis & Ardine Williams and Darpan Kapadia, the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement provides up to $5,000 in funding for unpaid or underfunded internship, research, and similar applied learning opportunities to qualified undergraduate students.
The Career Center Student Internship Fund will award up to $5,000, throughout their time at William & Mary, to qualified undergraduate students who will be completing unpaid or underfunded experiences.
All awards are based on a budget model for living expenses, such as food, housing and transportation, so a student may participate in an unpaid or underfunded experience. F.U.S.E. funds are not intended to act as compensation for the experience.
To be eligible for funding, undergraduate students must have secured an unpaid or underfunded internship, research, or similar applied learning experience that is at one organization over at least 4 weeks, with a minimum of 160 hours worked during the summer, or a minimum of 100 hours during the fall, winter, or spring terms. Multiple internship experiences cannot be used to meet the 4-week duration and/or total hours requirements and all hours must fall within a single funding term. Funding cannot be applied retroactively toward any hours that were completed prior to the funding term. Summer and winter applicants must be enrolled as an undergraduate student through William & Mary's main campus, St. Andrews, or study abroad programs for the following semester.
International Experiences - Consult the international travel policy and travel alerts page for the country in which you are interested for any international internship.
- If the country is on the university’s travel advisory list, please complete a petition which will be reviewed by the W&M International Travel Review Committee. Approval must be granted prior to being awarded funding with documentation submitted to the F.U.S.E. committee ([[internships]]).
- Undergraduate students are prohibited from traveling to countries that are on the Restricted Destinations list.
For additional information, including qualifications and eligibility, please see our frequently asked questions.
Prior to accepting F.U.S.E. funding managed through the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement, you must have completed one of three prerequisites:
- My Active Career Exploration (MACE) (all 6 sessions).
- Career Readiness Foundations (all 4 modules - resumes, cover letters, interviewing, and LinkedIn).
- SCHEV Developing Career Readiness Skills modules (Course Foundations and any 3 additional modules. Course Foundations must be completed before proceeding to additional modules).
- If you have previously received F.U.S.E. funding and completed the SCHEV Developing Career Readiness Skills modules as your prerequisite, you will need to complete SCHEV Internship Toolkit modules (Getting Started and Modules 6-8).
If you have not already completed MACE or Career Readiness Foundations, you must complete the SCHEV Developing Career Readiness Skills modules.
To apply, a student must submit the following 5 documents:
- Internship posting or position description.
- Up-to-date resume (max. 2 pages). You may wish to view resume resources on the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement website.
- Budget (demonstrating the intended use of internship funds). Please utilize this Summer 2026 budget worksheet and make sure everything on the worksheet can be read when saving it as a PDF to submit. Provide as much information as possible to justify your budget request amounts, including screenshots for requests such as flights.
- Statement of interest (no more than 300 words total) addressing the following points:
- Describe how this experience aligns with your career goals, how you hope to benefit from participating, and how your academic coursework has prepared you.
- In what way would funding help enable you to pursue this experience? Please explain your funding requests here if there isn’t ample space on the budget worksheet.
- List any other sources of funding that you have applied for and/or received whether from William & Mary or external sources. Please note the amount of the funding and when you anticipate hearing about whether you will receive it.
- If you've completed one of the pre-requisites for the internship course (MACE, Career Readiness Foundations, or the SCHEV Career Readiness modules), please indicate that in your statement. This does not need to be done in advance to be considered.
- Please indicate whether or not you are a veteran and/or a dependent of a veteran (summer only).
- Proof of the position offer provided by this fillable form or an offer letter or email (written in English) that contains the following information:
- the employer’s contact information
- confirmation that the position has been offered
- start and end dates for the experience
- the total number of hours to be worked
- modality (in-person, hybrid, or remote), with a schedule of on-site and remote days if it's hybrid
- that it is unpaid (or the pay if it is underfunded)
If the internship is unpaid, the employer also must complete an online verification form to certify that they have reviewed and will abide by the Department of Labor criteria established in the FLSA, which will route directly to the Internships & Applied Learning Team.
A committee will consider the following factors when assessing funding applications: academic standing, disciplinary status, nature of the experience, quality of application materials, and the connection between the position and the applicant's career interests. You can schedule a career advising appointment** through TribeCareers or drop into Quick Advising (Monday-Thursday, 2-4 p.m., Cohen Career Center Atrium) to meet with someone to review your application documents. Incomplete applications or applications received after the deadline will not be considered.
** Lisa Randolph, Katie Kenney, and Phil Heavilin aren't able to meet with students to review F.U.S.E. application materials, as they are on the review committee.
Expectations of awardees:
- Register for and complete assignments for a 0-credit course, including video reflections, during the term they are receiving funding. Information about registration will be shared after award notification and acceptance.
- Complete a self-evaluation reflecting on the experience's impact on academic and career goals.
- Supervisors must submit an evaluation of the intern’s performance, including verification that the required hours were completed during the award term.
- Produce a deliverable (a PowerPoint slide and 3-minute presentation) and participate in an Internship & Applied Learning Showcase.
- Write a thank you note to donors and participate as requested, if available, in activities such as information sessions and donor-recognition events.
Questions about F.U.S.E. funding through the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement can be directed to the Internships & Applied Learning team at [[internships]].
Summer F.U.S.E. Funding Managed by William & Mary Campus Partners
Public Policy Fellowship Program for Internships(Please note: The requirements of this fellowship program differ in some important respects from FUSE programs managed by the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement and other William & Mary community partners. Please be sure to follow the policies and procedures as detailed on the Public Policy Program website.) Selected public policy students receiving funding under the Public Policy/Schroeder Center Fellowship Program will receive as much as $5,000 to support eligible, unpaid or low-paid summer public policy internships. For complete details on the policies and procedures related to this program (including eligibility and application requirements), please visit the Public Policy Program’s website. Please contact Elaine McBeth (mcbeth@wm.edu; 757-221-2386) if you should have any questions about this Fellowship Program. Application materials must be submitted online by April 15 (priority deadline) or April 30 (final deadline). If you have any questions about the application process, please contact April Greener (algreener@wm.edu). |
Schroeder Center for Health Policy Fellowship Program for InternshipsNote, the requirements of this fellowship program differ in some important respects from FUSE programs managed by the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement and other William & Mary community partners. Please be sure to follow the policies and procedures as detailed on the Schroeder Center for Health Policy’s website. Selected public policy students receiving funding under the Public Policy/Schroeder Center Fellowship Program will receive as much as $5,000 to support eligible, unpaid or low-paid summer public policy internships. For complete details on the policies and procedures related to this program (including eligibility and application requirements), please visit the Schroeder Center for Health Policy’s website. Application materials must be submitted online by April 15 (priority deadline) or April 30 (final deadline). If you have any questions about the application process, please contact April Greener (algreener@wm.edu). |
Whole of Government Center of Excellence National Security Internship FundingThe application link for Summer 2026 will be posted in early Spring. The W&M Whole of Government Center of Excellence (WGC) oversees the university’s National Security Internship Program (NSIP). WGC works with federal stakeholders and students to create transformative opportunities to serve the nation and Commonwealth of Virginia. Expanding pathways for students to gain valuable experiences with the U.S. government, including the military services and intelligence communities, WGC supports students accepted into national security internships with funds appropriated by the Virginia General Assembly or awarded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In partnership with the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement and other campus units, WGC provides guidance to receive Summer 2025 NSIP funding through the Funding for Unpaid and Underfunded Student Experiences (F.U.S.E.) process in TribeCareers. Students can apply for multiple F.U.S.E. funds. While some NSIP funding is designated for students selected for specific sponsored programs, such as U.S. Department of Defense Combatant Command internships, additional NSIP funding is available for students selected for other national security internships. Please reach out to wgc@wm.edu with any questions about the NSIP F.U.S.E. funding. Information about the Summer 2026 NSIP F.U.S.E. funding eligibility and requirements will be posted in TribeCareers in early Spring 2026 Please contact wgc@wm.edu or Parin Shah Finch (psfinch@wm.edu; 757-221-4055) with any questions regarding the National Security Internship Program. |