Summer Internship Funding
We can help make your summer internship possible.
We want to ensure every Notre Dame student is financially able to participate in at least one summer internship. We recognize that some internships are located in high-cost cities or may be with organizations that offer unpaid internships or do not provide enough financial support to cover your summer living expenses.
May 2, 2026 Update
Due to student demand, our 2026 funding program closed on Friday, May 1.
Program Overview
Our Summer Internship Funding Program aims to enable Notre Dame students to participate in internships by providing funding to offset travel, housing, and food costs.
For the purposes of this webpage, "summer internships" are defined as:
- internships (unpaid, low-paying)
- research (unpaid and low-paying)
The goal of our funding is to balance your summer internship expenses with your summer internship income. In other words, we don't want students to miss out on a meaningful internship because of the expenses incurred with living in another city for the summer.
We manage this program through a competitive application process. Not all students who apply will receive funding, and not all students will receive the full amount they request.
If you have any questions before applying, please don't hesitate to email us at ccd-funding@nd.edu. We are committed to helping you navigate the process to make it as easy as possible to apply. Everything you need to know about the program can be found on this page. You may also find our "funding scenarios" page helpful. Please select one of the following or continue reading to learn more.
Application Deadlines and Decision Dates
The application for our 2026 summer internship funding program opened on January 4, 2026 and closed on Friday, May 1.
Most students will receive a decision (via email) within one week of submitting a fully completed application.
For students who are awarded funding before April 1, payments will typically be processed (via direct deposit) by mid-May. Students who are awarded funding after April 1 will typically receive direct deposit awards by early June.
If you have been awarded funding and have questions about when to expect your direct deposit, please email us.
Materials you need to apply
Our application process is thorough -- we will ask you many questions to make sure you submit all of the necessary information to be considered. Simply answer a series of questions related to your summer internship. If we have any questions, we will contact you via email.
Please know that you will need the following information for your application:
- Details of your summer internship (see below for what qualifies as a "summer internship")
- Listing of your estimated expenses, including:
- Anticipated food expenses
- Anticipated travel expenses from/to your hometown (or ND/South Bend)
- Anticipated on-site transportation (subway, bus)
- Housing (if you are looking for estimates, you may want to look at colleges/universities that rent rooms and apartment websites)
- Resume saved to Handshake (instructions here)
- PDF of your internship/internship offer [this can be an email you save as a PDF, but it must include your start/end dates, compensation (if any)]
Once you are ready to apply, click the link below to launch the application and authenticate using Okta. You are welcome to start and revisit your application.
Payment
If you are awarded CCD funding, your payment will be made via direct deposit as a lump sum. If you have questions about the status of your payment, please email us.
Students must have direct deposit set up in InsideND in order to be eligible for payment. Students who do not have direct deposit set up through Notre Dame will not receive funding. As such, students are encouraged to set up direct deposit before applying.
For students who are awarded funding before April 1, payments will typically be processed (via direct deposit) by mid-May. Students who are awarded funding after April 1 will typically receive direct deposit awards by mid-June.
If you have been awarded funding and have questions about when to expect your direct deposit, please email us.
Key details
- Funding is not guaranteed for any applicant. Not all students who request funding will receive funding, and not all students receive the full amount they request.
- Funds are provided to support food, transportation, and housing expenses incurred as a result of participating in a summer internship. To help you understand what this looks like, we have provided a variety of scenarios based on past funding requests.
- If your compensation (from an employer) exceeds your food/transportation/housing expenses, you are not eligible for funding.
- If you have questions about the impact on your financial aid package, please contact the Office of Financial Aid before applying.
- If you have questions about the tax implications of receiving funding, please see this Tax Implications Letter.
- A number of other departments and programs at Notre Dame offer summer internship and research funding. The Flatley Center for Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement (CUSE) provides a list of funding opportunities.
Eligibility
The following eligibility requirements give you a sense of our priorities for funding.
- Funding has been made possible by generous benefactors who have restricted their gifts to support summer internships for undergraduate students.
- Funding is available to undergraduate students only.
- You must be enrolled in the 2026 fall semester at Notre Dame. Unfortunately, we do not offer funding for graduating seniors, graduate students, or alumni.
- Funding will not exceed your income from your summer internship. Funding is intended to balance your summer budget of summer living expenses.
- Funding will only be approved to cover food, transportation, and housing expenses incurred during your participation in the summer internship.
- You must have a career-aligned summer internship that is relevant to your post-graduate career goals. "Career-aligned" means the summer internship is work internship related to your career interests, and the internship will expose you to an organization, industry, or work tasks that will help with your career discernment.
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"Summer internships" are defined as:
- internships (unpaid, low-paying or paid)
- research (unpaid and paid)
- Study abroad programs, academic classes, and job shadowing are not eligible for CCD funding.
- Employment must be on a full-time basis (at least 30 hours per week for at least six weeks or longer).
- Typically, no more than three students will be provided funding at any one organization.
- Certain summer internship programs have funding limits with our program.
To help you understand what funding eligibility could look like, we have provided a variety of scenarios based on past funding requests. If you have questions about your eligibility before you submit an application, you are welcome to email us.
If you are not eligible for our funding program, you may be interested in considering one of the many grants and/or funding options at Notre Dame.
Priority order
We typically receive more requests for funds than we have funds available. Our decisions follow this priority order.
- Unpaid internships
- Low-paying internships
- Paid internships where your summer internship expenses exceed your summer income
Within each of these three levels, we will also prioritize students who have demonstrated financial need.
Funding limits
The goal of our funding is to balance your summer internship expenses with your summer internship income. In other words, we don't want you to miss out on a meaningful career-aligned internship because of the expenses involved in living in another city for the summer.
- Unpaid internships typically qualify for up to $3,500. Students participating in unpaid summer internships in high-cost cities typically qualify for up to $5,500. High-cost cities include: Boston, New York City, San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Washington DC.
- Low-paying internships typically qualify for up to $3,000. Students participating in low-paying summer internships in high-cost cities typically qualify for up to $4,500. ("Low-paying" generally describes internships where an organization provides a modest stipend that does not cover your living expenses).
- Paid internships typically qualify for up to $1,000 (assuming that your summer income does not exceed your transportation, housing, and food expenses).
If your summer internship income exceeds your summer internship expenses, you are not eligible for CCD funding.
If you have questions before you submit an application, you are welcome to email us.
International Internships
Any student participating in an internship outside of the United States and receiving financial or programmatic support from Notre Dame must complete the International Travel Registry through Notre Dame Global (NDG) and fulfill any requirements articulated by NDG (including, but not limited to, attending the Heath and Safety Summit). If you are considering an international internship:
- Review these resources provided by Notre Dame Global.
- All University-funded students are required to have insurance coverage. See details linked here.
- When traveling abroad, make sure you have addressed any health-related matters by visiting University Health Services.
- When accepting an international internship, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have addressed all visa and work authorization requirements with your prospective employer, and applicable government agencies. This is a very important topic to ask your employer about, since some visa expenses can cost hundreds of dollars. Unfortunately, our funds cannot be used to pay for visa expenses.
- For additional insights into understanding different cultures and living abroad, please read ND Global's resources.
Housing Options
One of the most significant expenses of your summer internship will be your housing. The CCD is not able to secure housing for you. Other students have found housing through these means:
- With family (please know that CCD funding will not provide money to pay a family member for living in their home)
- With a friend's family
- Sub-leasing an apartment from another student
- Apartment complexes/buildings (search online for options from sites like apartments.com, apartmentguide.com, etc. )
- Colleges and universities that offer internship housing
We encourage you to ask your employer/organization where other interns have stayed in previous years or how those interns secured housing.
Keep in mind that many apartment complexes require up-front payment, an application fee, or pay a security deposit.
Above all, be sure to proceed with caution as you look at apartments and room-sharing services. There are many fake listings and many listings have hidden fees. The University of Notre Dame is not responsible for your housing decisions.
Application
The 2026 Summer Internship Funding Program closed on the evening of May 1.
The 2027 program will launch in January 2027.
Have questions?
If you have any questions about our funding program, please don't hesitate to email us at ccd-funding@nd.edu. We are committed to making it as easy as possible to apply for funding. You may also find it helpful to look at our list of scenarios based on past funding requests. This may help you understand how funding could look.