SLI Internships

1. Foothill College is listed as your primary institution and you are enrolled at Foothill College in spring 2026 for at least 6 units.
2. You must have demonstrated financial need through completion of the FAFSA, CA Dream Act or an explanation of financial need in the application.
   • We encourage you to fill out the FAFSA for 2025-26 if you haven’t done so already. This will greatly improve your chances of positive review, especially if you show high need.
3. You should be a first-generation college goer – this can mean one or both parents did not graduate from college in the U.S. or outside the U.S.

Priority given to:

• Students who have not previously had an internship or company experience.
• Students who have the intent to transfer to a 4-year university.
• First time degree earners (no prior degree such as a Bachelor’s or Associate).

All internships will be either 6-7, 15, or 20 hours per week for nine weeks. All internships start the week of July 6, 2026 and run through the week of August 31, 2026.

All internships require:

• A program orientation before the end of spring quarter and an in-person training before the internship starts (6/29/26). These are run by the Science Learning Institute.
• Submission of a final report of your internship experience at the end of the summer.
• Final presentation in early September for an audience of all interns and mentors in the program.
• Attendance at a biweekly (every other week) in-person cohort seminar on professional development topics (included in your hours/week) – total of four seminars – all required.
• All above activities/ sessions are included in the total hours of your internship, on top of the hours on your internship project.

These are all required. You must sure you can attend for all these days. Summer vacations/ trips and transfer university start dates should accommodate these dates:

• Program orientation (2 options) - Dates TBD
• In-person training for all interns - Mon, June 29, 2026
• All internships start: week of July 6, 2026
• All internships end: week of August 31, 2026
• Final presentations – Thurs, Sept 3 and Fri, Sept 4, 2026

Before submitting the application, there are actions you can take to make the application process run more smoothly.  

1. Fill out the interest form to let us know you are thinking of applying. 
2. Prepare your resume. If you've never done a resume, check out this website that has templates and guidance on creating a resume
3. Download your unofficial transcript. If you don't know how to do that, go to MyPortal --> Student Registration --> see two options under My Records - View my Unofficial Transcript. 
4. Prepare your Personal Statement essay. Write an essay that tells us about yourself and your background. Describe a significant life challenge (financial, personal, etc.) you faced and how you addressed it. Be specific about your academic and career goals, and how this internship would help you meet those goals. Explain why you are interested in an internship at this point in your journey. Word count - not to exceed 600 words.
5. Fill out the Google Form application and upload resume, transcript, and personal statement. 
6. You may use AI to help you brainstorm your essays, but DO NOT use AI to fully write your answers. AI strips your voice and authenticity, so we want to read essays that are from YOUR VOICE. 

This year, a project catalog will not be provided for view in advance of submitting the application. Instead, students who make it through a first round of review will receive the Project and Mentor catalog to review and then will be given a week and a half (with support) to submit selections and interest paragraphs for up to 5 internship projects. 

There are three types of projects and corresponding internship stipends:

• 6 - 7 hours per week for 9 weeks - $1200
• 15 hours per week for 9 weeks - $2800
• 20 hours per week for 9 weeks - $3700

Scholarship payments will occur in two installments and will depend on successful completion at each stage: one in the middle of the internship and one at the end after completion of the final report and final presentation.

Depending on your eligibility and the arrangement with the partner, even though this is called a "scholarship program," there will be different ways you will get paid:

• as a scholarship
• through student employment
• through temporary employee hiring
• directly through the internship partner in which you will have to complete their hiring paperwork

There will be two main rounds of review for this process.

1. Round 1 – a team of reviewers from SLI will review your Google Form application after the April 15 deadline and select a group of students for first round acceptance.
2. First round accepted students will be notified toward the end of April and required to attend an information session to receive and review the Project and Mentor catalog and make their choices of up to 5 projects they are interested in. Students in this round will also need to submit short interest paragraphs related to which projects they are interested in. There will be support for this part of the process. These interest statements will be submitted in early May. 
3. Round 2 – students’ interest paragraphs will be reviewed and will be forwarded to mentors for review and possible short interviews. From there, a final set of up to 30 students will be selected for the internship program.
4. Don’t let this multi-step process deter you – we will support you every step of the way if you need it!

Students may get more than one interview in round 2 but ultimately can only get accepted for one project. Final decisions will be made by the end of May.