Academic Internship Program
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AIP
Academic Internship Program
The UC San Diego Academic Internship Program (AIP) provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to earn course credit for substantive internships related to their academic and career goals. As an academic program, AIP strives to facilitate partnerships that lead to genuine learning opportunities for students, and create value for our community partners.
Eligibility
All AIP courses are open to eligible students of any major who follow the application and enrollment process in the quarter preceding the internship. Eligibility for AIP courses is dependent on the course:
Lower division: 30 units completed, 3.0 UC GPA
Upper division: 90 units completed, 2.5 UC GPA
Students need to apply for an AIP course or program
before
the quarter they are applying for credit. AIP is not able to grant academic credit for retroactive or previously completed internships.
Note
: If a student is interested in continuing their existing AIP internship, they can create a new Learning Agreement with a changed role, responsibilities and/or project to ensure new learning and new development of skills/knowledge. Students may earn credit up to three times for AIP courses, and may not exceed 16 units of AIP.
Course Information
More detailed information is available on the
AIP Courses page
. Below is a general overview of AIP's core courses. See
Course Catalog
for official descriptions.
Students are encouraged to check with their major department to determine whether AIP courses can fulfill a major requirement.
AIP 197: Academic Internship Program.
Upper-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course. Students engage in independent internships, identify Learning Objectives, and develop a related paper or project under guidance of a faculty advisor. Internships may be in any industry, and are vetted by AIP for alignment with established
internship criteria
AIP 97: Academic Internship
. Lower-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course, making enrollment in an internship course accessible to lower-division students. Course structure and requirements mirror AIP 197.
AIP 197P: Public Service Internship.
Upper-division, Pass/No Pass Special Studies course. Students intern with non-profit or government entities, and may apply credit toward
Public Service Minor
requirements.Overall course structure is similar to AIP 197.
In addition to AIP's core courses, we support enrollment in internship courses linked to
partner programs
, including
BISP 197
(Biology Research Internship Program), ANTH 197 (Anthropology Internships), and GLBH 197 (Global Health Internships).
Special Programs
AIP also has special programs as an opportunity to explore internships within specific fields and even beyond San Diego. We encourage you to explore the
UCDC
and
UCCS
programs, as well as other special programs such as the
BISP 197 and CHEM 197
courses.
Note that deadlines for these special programs may differ from the standard AIP deadlines.
How to Apply
More detailed instructions on the application process are available on our
AIP Checklists page
Log in through the REAL Portal.
Students unable to log in to REAL Portal should reach out to
aipinfo@ucsd.edu
or through the VAC
Upload your resume, cover letter, and other required documents to the REAL Portal
Apply for positions and the internship organization will contact you directly for an interview
If selected for an internship position, complete the Learning Agreement (see the Learning Agreement section below)
An AIP counselor is available to meet with students throughout this process, providing assistance with finding appropriate internships, resume/cover letter preparation, the application and interview process.
Learning Agreement
More detailed instructions on the
Learning Agreement
page. A Learning Agreement must include:
Internship dates (start and end dates must align with dates of the academic term, Weeks 1-10)
Internship schedule and hours
Faculty Advisor contact information
Internship details
Organization name
Supervisor Name
Supervisor Title
Supervisor Email
Supervisor Phone
Internship Title
Internship description (responsibilities of the position)
Determine three Learning Objectives
Learning objectives should reflect concrete knowledge or experiences you hope to gain from the internship opportunity.
Identify the steps that would help you to achieve those objectives
A summary of your final deliverable
Once the Learning Agreement is complete:
Submit the Learning Agreement to AIP via the REAL Portal
AIP will review your Learning Agreement and will provisionally approve your application
If revisions are needed, the Learning Agreement will be sent back to you for edits
Your Internship Supervisor will receive an email requesting their electronic approval of the Learning Agreement
EASy Request
More information is available on the
EASy Requests
page. Upon approval by AIP and your Internship Supervisor, you may begin your enrollment request via the Enrollment Authorization System (EASy). You will need:
Your proposed final deliverable
A PDF of your
approved
Learning Agreement (Employer Approval Date will be indicated toward the bottom of the Learning Agreement)
Your request will be electronically routed to your Faculty Advisor for approval.
Timelines
Below are the recommended EASy submission deadlines. The Learning Agreement must be approved and attached to the EASy application when submitting.
Please note that special studies applications require multiple levels of review through EASy, including submissions by both the student and instruction, departmental review, and (in some cases) College approval before final submission to the Registrar.
All approvals must be completed and application must be submitted to the Registrar by Friday of Week 2 (the campus add deadline). Students are encouraged to submit their applications by the deadlines listed below to allow for sufficient processing time.
Important dates for AIP
For participation in
Internship Dates
Learning Agreement Due*
Priority EASy Request Deadline
Spring 2025
Mar 31-Jun 6
Mar 14, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Mar 21, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Summer 2025**
Jun 30-Sep 6
Jun 6, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Jun 13, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Fall 2025
Sep 29-Dec 5
Sep 5, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Sep 26, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Winter 2026
Jan 5-Mar 13
Dec 5, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Dec 12, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Spring 2026
Mar 30-Jun 5
Mar 13, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
Mar 20, 2025 @ 4:00 p.m.
*Note that deadlines for special programs including BISP 197 and UCDC may differ. Internship dates for which credit is requested must fall within
one
academic quarter.
**Summer internships will be scheduled for Special Summer Session III, see the
Summer Session website
for information around fees and payment deadlines.
Academic Internship Program
Email:
aipinfo@ucsd.edu
Contact us via the
Virtual Advising Center (VAC)
Location:
We are located on the first floor of Geisel Library in the Teaching and Learning Commons
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