Augsburg College recently received a $150,000 Career Ready Internship grant from Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.  Internships provide students with valuable workplace skills and networking opportunities that often lead to job offers after graduation. Grant funds will create up to 38 new paid internships for the 2014-2015 academic year ensuring more Augsburg students can participate in paid experiences that allow them to graduate with a competitive edge.

This project will be led Keith Munson, Rebekah Dupont, and Elaine Eschenbacher, who will collaborate to identify and build lasting partnerships with local businesses and nonprofits to develop new paid internships for students who receive financial aid.

Great Lakes Career Ready Internship grants, totaling $5.2 million, were awarded to 40 colleges and universities across Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin for the 2014-2015 academic year. These new grants expand on a successful pilot at 19 Wisconsin colleges during 2013-2014, in which 98 percent of interns either re-enrolled the next semester or graduated. This year, a total of 2,235 students receiving financial aid who might not otherwise consider – and profit from – an internship will gain professional experience and progress toward graduation. This grant is just one way Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation & Affiliates works to achieve its goal of helping more students benefit from their investment in higher education, and graduate ready to reach their full potential.

If you have any questions about this project, please contact Keith Munson at munsonk@augsburg.edu.