Are you an early-career or aspiring journalist interested (even just a little) in covering colleges and universities?
If so, you should apply for our reporting internship.
Q. Who are we?
A. The Chronicle is the premier source for news about higher education. We’ve been around since 1966, and more than a million people read us online every month. Click these links to see some of the projects we’ve turned out recently.
We’re also an equal-opportunity employer, and one of our top priorities is recruiting and maintaining a diverse staff.
Q. What would I do as an intern?
A. You’d be a full-time reporter in our newsroom, in Washington, D.C. Simple as that. We hire three interns per cycle (spring, summer, and fall).
Click these links for some examples of our recent interns’ work.
Our internship typically involves working Monday to Friday during normal business hours, and is not designed for full-time students. If you’re taking one or two courses, email our internship coordinator (sarah.brown@chronicle.com), and we can discuss whether our program will work for your schedule.
Q. Is it paid?
A. Yes, you’d make $800 a week before taxes.
Q. What are the internship’s dates?
A. For the spring cycle, January to May. For summer, June to August. For fall, September to December.
Q. Do I need to live in Washington, D.C.?
A. Most Chronicle staff members work in our D.C. office. Our reporting interns typically work in person at least three days a week. We can offer remote internships in the following states: VA, MD, NY, NJ, NC, FL, TX, WA, MI. Reach out to Sarah Brown at sarah.brown@chronicle.com if you have questions about this policy.
Q. Where do interns end up after the program?
A. Chronicle internship alums from the past decade are working in all sorts of newsrooms: national outlets like The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today; trade publications like Politico, Law360, Education Week, and Inside Climate News; and heavy-hitting regional outlets like the Los Angeles Times, Tampa Bay Times, Houston Landing, and WBEZ.
Q. How do I apply?
A. All candidates must apply through our candidate portal. The application opens in April for the fall internship, in September for the spring internship, and in November for the summer internship.
When you apply, you’ll need to submit four things:
Cover letter
Tell us about yourself and what you’re looking to accomplish through the internship. Perhaps most important, tell us what you can offer, and why you want to bring it to The Chronicle.
And keep it to one page, please.
Résumé
You probably know what’s in a résumé. Candidates should have some experience in a newsroom, be it college or professional.
Again, one is the magic number of pages.
Five clips
Send us five examples of what you’re capable of. They can be articles, links to articles, links to videos or multimedia projects, audio projects, or any other kind of reporting project. Keep in mind that The Chronicle internship is primarily focused on reporting and writing news stories, and we want to see examples of that in your clips.
Three references
Include the email addresses and phone numbers of three references. At least two of them should have edited or supervised your journalism.
Q: What’s the deadline?
Our deadlines typically fall in June for the fall internship, November for the spring internship, and January for the summer internship.
Q. What happens then?
1. Our intern-selection committee will read every application.
2. Considering the applications, we’ll identify a list of semi-finalists.
3. Semi-finalists will be given a 90-minute writing test.
4. After the writing test, we’ll choose eight to 10 finalists and interview them via Zoom.
5. In the following days, we’ll make decisions.
Questions?
Email Sarah Brown, at sarah.brown@chronicle.com. And thanks for your interest.
