Hunter College Journalism students are encouraged to take advantage of our prime location — New York City, home to dozens of the nation’s top media companies – by pursuing internships during the school year or summer for pay or credit.
Students can earn one academic credit per 40 hours of work performed over the course of the semester. For example, a 120-hour internship – 8 hours per week over a 15-week semester — would equal 3 units of academic credit, the typical credit value for a MEDP or MEDIA course. Students may take a maximum of 12 internship credits as a general elective in the course of their Hunter career, and no more than 6 per semester. During short semesters, such as summer or winter, the cap is 3 credits, though another three may be rolled over to fall or spring. Internships are graded as credit/no credit.
Please note these other requirements:
• Students must be a Film or Media Studies major
• Students must have completed Reporting & Writing 1
• Students must have at least a 3.0 in their major
• Internship credits count as general electives for your degree. They do not fulfill the production elective requirement in the journalism major but do count as one production elective for the journalism minor.
Finding an internship
Internship listings are seasonal and often have deadlines well in advance of the start of the program. Journalism students can subscribe to our internship newsletter here to get news of upcoming deadlines. As a general rule, the application period for summer starts as early as the previous October; fall starts in May; and spring starts in September.
Our listings are organized by keyword and by platform. Check back regularly for updates. Students can also do their own research to find internships by combing online databases, signing up for job alerts, or contacting companies directly. Students should also take advantage of college resources at the Career Development Services office.
Applying for credit
Once you have secured a position, follow these steps:
• Fill out the internship registration form.
• After you submit the form, the Journalism Internship Coordinator will process your permission to register. Once the registration window opens, log on to CUNYfirst and register for your internship class just like any other class. The class number is MEDIA 49801 to 49806, depending on how many credits (1 to 6) you will earn. A 3-credit internship, for example, will be listed as MEDIA 49803.
• At the end of your internship, you must ask your work supervisor to fill out the Internship Evaluation Form.
• Once that is received, a grade of CR will be entered for your course.