PACON Grant Award for Unpaid or Underpaid Internships

• Students must have completed the Public Affairs Conversation program as a first year. Students have until the of summer following their junior year to complete a PACON internship. Each PACON student is only eligible to receive one PACON Grant Award.
• See the Guidelines and Policies for PACON Internship Program (for 2024-25) document
• The internship must be a public affairs internship (as articulated in the Guidelines and Policies document). If you have a question about whether or not your internship meets the criteria for a “public affairs” internship, please email Professor Marsh <marshj> and Nate Jacobi <jacobi>, Associate Director in the Piper Center.
• Students completing internships or research on-campus or where the employer would be St. Olaf are not eligible for funding.
• International Internships:
  • See the Guidelines and Policies document
  • Students are generally not allowed to complete internships in countries with State Department Travel Advisory Level 3 or 4. Please email <jacobi> at least two weeks before the deadline if you would like to apply for special approval to complete an internship in a country with a travel warning.

Term	Minimum Weeks and Hours	Award	Minimum Award
Fall or Spring	4 weeks and 55 hours	Eligible expenses (commuting) up to $1200	$600
J-Term	4 weeks and 120 hours (some hours can take place during the breaks before or after Interim)	Eligible expenses up to $2,500 (up to $3,000 for international internships or high cost of living locations)	$1000
Summer	8 weeks and 240 hours	Eligible expenses up to $2,500 (up to $4,000 for international internships or high cost of living locations) + $1,500 stipend	$1400

*Compensation received from the employer will be subtracted from the award amount
**If the PACON Award level is not sufficient to meet your financial needs, please be in touch with both Professor Marsh <marshj> and Nate Jacobi <jacobi>, Associate Director in the Piper Center.
****Funding to students could be subject to income tax withholding per IRS and Minnesota state guidelines.

Fall and J-Term Internships: Apply for funding through the J-Term Internship Funding Program.
Spring and Summer Internships: Apply for funding through the Summer Internship Funding Program.

 

• Students who receive the PACON Award are required to register for academic internship credit and follow the guidelines and deadlines for Academic Internships.
• When possible, students are asked to work with one of their PACON instructors as their faculty supervisor (this might not be possible for international students, see below).
• International students:
  • You are required to earn academic internship credit for any internship in which you live in the United States for at least part of the internship.
  • The internship must relate directly to one of your majors.
  • Your faculty supervisor must be from the department that corresponds to your major (that relates to the internship).
  • Please contact Nate Jacobi <jacobi> and Professor Marsh <marshj> if you are an international student who needs to find a faculty supervisor for a PACON funded internship.

Follow the process for Interim Internship Funding (for Fall Semester or Interim internships) and Summer Internship Funding (for Spring Semester and Summer Internships) and send a quick note to Nate Jacobi <jacobi> and Professor Marsh <marshj> to let them know that you have applied.

All grant award recipients are expected to do the following:

Funding is made possible through the Institute for Freedom and Community.