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Home > Degree Programs > Master's Degrees > Master in Public Administration/ International Development > Curriculum > Summer Internships
Summer Internships
MPA/ID students spend the summer between their first and second year working as interns on development projects, usually in developing countries. These internships give MPA/ID students a practical opportunity to put the skills they have learned in their first year of studies to the test, and to give them additional real-world experience and guidance as they think about the coursework they will choose for their second year. Students with substantial previous work experience use the internship to explore new organizations, substantive areas of interest, or parts of the world. Some students choose to build on their internship experience when they write their Second Year Policy Analysis.
For employers, the MPA/ID internships offer an opportunity to develop relationships with students who are on their way to becoming policy makers and leaders in the field of international development. Whether the employers are multilateral organizations, central banks, government agencies, research institutes, or private corporations, they are working with students who have a valuable and varied set of skills.
MPA/ID students find internships in several ways. They may take advantage of the immense network of alumni and former internship sites around the world, apply for internships through formal programs (such as the World Bank), or directly contact organizations of interest to them.
On occasion, students form “teams” to pursue internships in countries of particular interest.
In the fall of 2010, intrigued by a Case Workshop unit on Institutions and Fragile States which included a discussion of the future of the then-incipient South Sudan, a group of students created their own opportunities to work with the new government of South Sudan in the areas of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, and with the Bank of South Sudan.
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