Internships, study abroad, club leadership, academic research – all are ways students take a thoughtful, concrete next step and test the hypothesis that they’ve formed about themselves based on their personalities, values, strengths and interests. The Center for Purposeful Work supports students as they take these next steps and test their hypotheses, connecting them with the tools they need to research and access opportunities.

Especially for their summers, we assist students in exploring and considering a wide variety of funded opportunities as a way to test their passions, build skills and knowledge, and gain exposure to the work that interests them. For students without inherited networks of professionals and mentors, gaining experience and contacts in a workplace opens doors to additional people on whom they can rely for guidance in their future.

There are hundreds of paid and unpaid opportunities to experience work posted in Handshake, including Purposeful Work Internships, Bates Environmental Internships,  Innovate for Maine and the Hanley Health Internships.

Grants from Bates

The Dean of Faculty’s office and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships offer opportunities for academic year and summer grants to help fund student experiences locally, nationally and internationally:

• Academic Year Research Grants
• Harward Center Academic Year Grants

Summer funding is made available by the Dean of Faculty’s office, the Harward Center, and the Center for Purposeful Work through a variety of funded summer experiences.

---

Internships for Credit

If an employer requires “academic credit” for an internship, a student may apply for the Internship for Credit status. Through this program, one credit may be available as a notation on the student’s transcript. Please be aware that internship credit will not count as one of the 32 credits required for graduation, nor will it be included in a student’s GPA.

Qualifications:

• Internships must last a minimum of six weeks and at least 120 hours.
• Internships for credit are reviewed by the Center for Purposeful Work on a semesterly basis.
• Students are limited to two qualifying internships for a total of two transcript notations.

Note: This information does not apply to internships completed as part of a Bates course requirement. If you have questions about a specific course that requires the completion of an internship, or questions about designing an independent study, please contact the academic department or the Registrar’s Office.

International students:

Any international student who is applying for an internship for credit must also apply for CPT per the standard CPT process. Begin by contacting Shelley Palmer in Global Education. 

Although international students generally may not apply for CPT during their first year, they may apply for CPT for the summers of their sophomore or junior years.  Students may also participate in a CPT-authorized internship during their winter break, which is rare but does occasionally occur. Any CPT during the academic semester will affect the student’s post-completion OPT.

Therefore:

• International students (F-1 Visa holders) are only eligible for internship-for-credit during the summers, specifically between their sophomore/junior and junior/senior summers 
• International students are not eligible for academic year internships-for-credit unless careful consideration is made regarding the impact on their OPT and the time available for post-grad work in the United States.

Deadlines:

Applications for internship for credit are due by the following dates or two weeks before the internship begins, whichever comes first:

• Fall 2024 internships – October 22, 2024
• Winter 2025 internships – February 18, 2025
• Summer 2025 internships – July 15, 2025

For more information and application forms, please contact the Center for Purposeful Work at purposefulwork@bates.edu.

---

Fellowships

Bates College ranks fourth in the nation for Fulbright U.S. student awards. Students interested in applying for prominent nationally competitive awards such as the Fulbright, Rhodes and Watson should contact Dr. Robert Strong, Director of National Fellowships, at rstrong@bates.edu and visit the Graduate Fellowship Committee’s homepage.

There are many other fellowships to which students and alumni can apply directly.  For questions and advice about fellowships please review the fellowship overview in the Resource section of Handshake or contact the Bates Center for Purposeful Work for advice about options.

Immodest proposals:  Students offer tips for fellowship success