Students check with businesses, non-profits and other organizations that provide internships at the annual Job & Internship Expo held every spring in the Williams Center Multipurpose Room.
The number of students receiving cash stipends for credit-bearing, unpaid internships is expected to double – climbing to over 250 – this year at SUNY Fredonia.
Just over $172,000 was originally allocated in the 2023-2024 academic year to support 112 students who experienced financial need/hardship and/or significant barriers to completing an unpaid internship that was registered in the Career Development Office (CDO) in the Spring 2024 semester and summer.
The individual stipend amount will be decreased slightly (from $1,500 to $1,000) to increase the total number of students who are eligible to receive the one-time living stipend for their unpaid internship.” - Internship Coordinator Jennifer Wilkins
But for the new academic year, the CDO has combined last year’s $172,000 allocation with a supplemental $100,000 to increase direct financial support for up to 257 students. The additional funding came from SUNY’s Incremental Student Services Funds, specifically for the Support for Internship Opportunities.
By adjusting the value of the student living stipends — to $1,000 from $1,500 in 2023-2024 – and adding the supplemental funding — the CDO has set a goal to substantially increase the number of stipends awarded to students more than double from a year ago.
“The individual stipend amount will be decreased slightly (from $1,500 to $1,000) to increase the total number of students who are eligible to receive the one-time living stipend for their unpaid internship,” explained CDO Internship Coordinator Jennifer Wilkins.
“Also, by using part of the $272,100 to pay for a graduate assistant focused on internship preparedness, we will be able to impact an additional 200 students with career readiness support provided by the graduate student assistant through one-on-one appointments, personalized outreach emails, presentations in classes and informational tabling,” Ms. Wilkins said.
“This would nearly double our indirect impact from 211 students in Spring 2024 to 400 students in the full academic year.”
Students apply stipends toward housing/living costs, food/meals, transportation, childcare and other incidental expenses incurred during both on-campus and off-campus internships.
In past years, the CDO awarded money solely for summer and J-Term internships in the form of scholarships through the Fredonia College Foundation. The first foundation scholarship, $600, was awarded for a 2016 credit-bearing unpaid internship. Donors steadily increased support for unpaid internships in both quantity and award value in subsequent years.
The number of students undertaking internships has grown steadily in recent years. There were 324 internships in 2022-2023 and 338 in 2023-2024. A 10 percent increase, to 371, is the goal for 2024-2025.
Approximately 30 percent of all internships registered in the CDO are typically funded by the employer.
