Internship Abroad

Internship Abroad

An internship abroad allows you to immerse yourself in a new culture and gain cultural awareness and adaptability, get work experience in your field, and form international friendships and professional connections. For internships abroad, students should recognize that these are “paid-for” experiences, and the university requires the use of pre-approved partners.   

Requirements and Credit  

To meet the requirement students must: 

• Intern for a total of 192 hours (normally 6 weeks with a 30-hour work week) 
• Earn credit for the internship (they can do so by enrolling in CSUSM’s GBM 495 course, in which 12 hours of the internship will be done working on a report of the experience or getting credit through the partner offering the internship opportunity).  

These are the university's pre-approved internship providers: 

• The Intern Group (apply via the International Student Exchange Program (ISEP) for a $200 discount) 

• AIFS 

• CEA/CAPA 

• Worldstrides 

Financial information 

In most cases, internships are less likely to be covered by financial aid unless aligned with a minimum of six units credit in Fall or Spring.  Summer internships are generally out-of-pocket experiences.  Please reach out to the Financial Aid Office for more information. 

Planning 

Given that we expect you to have completed your core business courses and have a broad understanding about business/management, we recommend doing the internship in the Summer of your junior or during your senior year (you can even do in the summer of your senior year and participate in Commencement in May, prior to doing the internship).  

Steps 

Internship abroad is an exciting, transformative experience, but it requires careful, continual planning and several months of advanced preparation.  These include: 

• Look at our partners’ websites for internship programs.  

• After researching internship program options, have some countries/programs in mind to discuss with the Global Business director.  Book appointments online.
• Apply for the internship with the partner you chose at least 4 months prior to your anticipated start date. 

• Immediately after submitting your internship application with the partner, begin working through the application process in the CSUSM Abroad Portal. Select Internships Abroad (GBM Majors Only) and click “Apply Now”. Please be sure to log in using your CSUSM credentials. (This application helps the GBM director to ensure that you have all the documentation required by CSUSM to do an internship abroad.) 

• Important Consideration at time of Application: Decide if you want to earn credit using your internship program or through CSUSM. Research the cost of earning credit through the provider vs. registering in GBM 495 through CSUSM to help make your decision. 

• In the meantime, ensure travel documents are up to date.  New passport holders have a 4-6 week standard processing timeline, so plan accordingly. 

• Once you are accepted by the partner, CoBA will “Accept” you in the CSUSM Abroad Portal. From there, you will be asked to upload your offer letter and complete additional forms. All forms must be completed at least 3 weeks prior to departure.  

• Final Reminder: If you decide to earn credit through your internship program, be sure to follow the steps they require to earn credit for the internship. If you decide to earn credit through CSUSM, you need to enroll in GBM 495, see below. 

GBM 495 

To earn credit for your internship, one option is to enroll in GBM 495. To do so, after you have your letter of acceptance (including the company you are going to work for), fill out the GBM workflow form. Once you complete and send the form out, your faculty advisor for the internship and GBM director will sign. You need to ask a professor to be your faculty advisor. You can choose any professor, including the GBM director. They will send that to academic advising to enroll you in GBM 495 (note: you cannot directly enroll in GBM 495). The deadlines for sending the form for each semester are below.