Internship Experience

The internship experience is the culmination of your work. The internship experience entails high quality, professional placement in a context with meaningful work opportunities. In the internship you address immediate needs of the organization, the clients, and their communities. The internship provides the venue for applying and integrating theory and research concepts gained in core and concentration coursework. The internship consists of a minimum 400 hours of work at an approved site, approximately 3-4 months full time. The internship course provides support for students in the Human Development Master's program as they undertake experiences in a supervised field setting. In addition, the course assists in your preparation for the final presentation in the fall. The modes for learning include email and phone correspondence, two in-person individual meetings with the instructor, a half day workshop in the fall, and the final presentation in the spring.

Your Concentration Sponsor, Committee Chair, and the Internship Coordinator can assist in determining potential sites for your internship. Typically, internships are in diverse locations across the US Eastcoastal States and beyond.

If you currently are employed in the human development field, your place of employment may qualify as your internship site. To qualify, your employer would need to add new responsibilities to your position that matched the requirements of the Virginia Tech HD Master’s internship. The program only credits time in the new areas of responsibility toward internship hours. Internship sites must be approved by HD Master's faculty.