ExCel with Experience

Internships: The minor for major success 

By Dave Scheiber 

ne student worked as a restaurant server before parlaying her childhood fascination with TV legal dramas into a life-changing law firm internship. Another discovered a passion for community issues in an anthropology internship and now designs city services for a local municipality. A third hopes her cancer research internship leads to a medical career in obstetrics and gynecology.

Meet Erica Chong, Naomi Burton and Lillianna Cwynar. Each of these USF students mirrors a national trend that underscores the value of experiential learning and research through internships. In fact, nearly 67% of graduating seniors last year participated in an internship during college — up from 61% in 2023 and less than 3% in 1980, according to a National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) survey.

Their paid internships resulted in more job offers post-graduation and higher average starting salaries, the survey found.

At USF, students like Erica, Naomi and Lillianna get more than on-the-job experience related to their studies. They are immersed in experiential learning and research activities that align with USF’s Quality Enhancement Plan, or QEP, a key element of USF’s accreditation process. 

The current QEP, called ExCeL, aims to increase undergraduate students’ career readiness and future success by expanding upon their classroom education. ExCel focuses on four types of experiential opportunities, all linked to student success after graduation: co-ops, student employment, undergraduate research and internships. 

College internship programs began appearing in the 1960s and took off in the 1990s as universities found new ways to make the jobs more accessible, appealing and enriching. Students might spend a semester or longer working in offices or health-care facilities, or assisting with research.

“The goal of QEP is to increase engagement in these activities and to infuse them into the students’ experience,” says Addye Buckley-Burnell, associate vice president and executive director of the Center for Career & Professional Development. “We’re hoping the students don’t even know QEP is part of their experience here at USF, that they’re just getting more career development in their curriculum and embracing these opportunities more fully, and receiving more potentially paid experiences to do so.”

Each of the students we spoke with has different career goals and at least one thing in common: Their futures have been shaped by internships and research opportunities. And though few may be aware of it, they are living QEP’s mission.