FAQs

Summer Funding is a program designed to support students pursuing unpaid or underpaid summer experiences by helping to cover the supplemental costs (living, transportation, food, etc.) associated with those experiences. 

Currently matriculating students in good academic and behavioral standing are eligible to apply for summer funding. You must intend to enroll at Colgate for at least one more semester. Students must also have their resumes Career Services certified before the application deadline within the same academic year.

Students can apply for funding to help support internships, volunteer opportunities, research projects, or other experiences that provide meaningful professional growth. Awards are intended to help cover housing, utilities, transportation, food, or other living costs, and cannot serve as a replacement for wages.

No. Students who already have secured internships, are still in the process of applying, or who have just started their search are invited to apply. We ask that you clearly articulate your summer intentions, including specific search criteria, meaningful summer goals, and reasoning for pursuing an experience. Application strength will determine tentative funding offers. You will need to confirm your summer plans in order to access your award, internship confirmation is required by June 1 of the year students are offered funding.

Still apply! Our career advising staff is equipped to work with you to discuss your areas of interest and how those might translate into careers. Complete the application based on your current goals and interests, as broad as they may be. On the application you should indicate what you hope to get out of the summer, whether it be professional exposure to different workplace environments, specific skills, acclimatization to a certain location, further developing your network, or more.

Resumes/CVs must be Career Services certified prior to the deadline and within the same academic year in order for your application to be considered. Students must also submit an online application form. Late applications will not be considered. 

Students may apply for a maximum grant of $5,000 for domestic experiences or $6,000 for international experiences. Students will submit budget proposals for review at the time of their internship confirmation. Final funding amounts are influenced by factors such as duration of the experience, geographic location, and the actual expenses associated with the experience. A student’s demonstrated financial need will be carefully considered.

Our career advisers are prepared to help you develop your application materials and review your short essay responses prior to submission. Advisers can walk you through the search process, alert you to different search resources, and help you put together application materials.

Yes. Both students who receive financial aid from Colgate and those who do not are eligible to receive a summer funding grant. 

Applications are reviewed by a committee of Colgate faculty, staff, and alumni. Each application is scored by three committee members based on a number of criteria including, but not limited to, clarity of learning objectives and relevance of experience. Funding will be awarded to the highest scoring applicants, and a group of others will be placed on a waitlist. 

Tentative offers are made in early April. These initial offers are conditional upon the student securing a summer experience that aligns with the goals laid out in their funding application. Career Services aims to return final grant offers within one week of students submitting internship confirmation paperwork.

Applicants are notified of summer funding decisions in early April. Unfortunately, we cannot notify grantees prior to that time. Approximately 40% of our applicants received funding offers last year, and students can expect an equally competitive process this year. We will also maintain a wait list. If you are asked to commit to an experience before the deadline, you should consider whether this is an experience you can afford in the event that you do not receive funding. Your employer may also be willing to extend the time frame by which you need to respond to your offer.  Please connect with our advisers to discuss how to approach this negotiation. 

That’s awesome! If your reasonable living costs (housing, transportation, food, etc.) are higher than your earned wages, then summer funding can still help you cover those. However, if your paid experience can cover these expenses, you are no longer eligible to receive funding.

Experiences, or the combination of multiple experiences, need to be a minimum of eight weeks, and equivalent to at least 35 hours per week (280 hours minimum). We are committed to funding substantive and quality experiences, and it may be difficult to experience the full depth of an opportunity in a short period of time. Students may combine multiple short-term or part-time experiences to meet the duration requirements of their grant. Decreases to the overall minimum length will be considered on a case by case basis for circumstances such as early study abroad departure, military service, and other significant conflicts.

Career Services adheres to all University travel policies. If the University is allowing international travel, students may apply their summer funding grant to an international experience.

It is important to note, that all international travel proposals are reviewed for risk and approved on a case by case basis. Any international location that is deemed a significant health or safety concern will not be approved. Students are encouraged to research travel warnings on the U.S. Department of State website and discuss their plans with Career Services before requesting funding for an international location. Because conditions can change quickly, students are also encouraged to consider a domestic backup plan.

Because short term travel is disproportionately expensive, students requesting funds for international travel should plan for the international component of their experience to be at least five weeks in length. Please keep in mind that the overall minimum length of experience is still eight weeks.

Funding can help offset program fees associated with internships or academic experiences. However, total grant awards are subject to the maximum grant amounts for the year. Within an individual student's budget, program fees may not exceed $1500. However, applicants may still request support for housing, food, transportation and supplies. Students may itemize living and travel expenses on their budget proposal, even if it is wrapped into the overall program fee designated by the sponsoring organization.

No. Applicants cannot access funding from multiple Colgate sources. If you have committed to receiving funding from the Lampert Institute, Upstate Institute, student- or faculty-initiated summer research, TIA, Colgate summer employment, or another Colgate source, you are obligated to withdraw your funding application through Career Services. Likewise, if you commit to accessing Career Services funding, you must withdraw your application for other on-campus funding sources’ application processes.

Refer to our housing search resources page for some tips.