Announced at the 2017 ISEP Conference: Advancing Inclusive Communities, the partnership means students from all 330 ISEP membership institutions will have access to a full-time and credit-bearing international internships.

Starting in summer 2018, students will be able to intern over the summer break, or during semester. They will be able to receive credit for the internships through their institutions or through Fairfield University, in Connecticut, which is a partner of Global Experiences, and is the institution of record for providing college credits.

“An internship program abroad is a great solution for a student who is looking to kind of have the two-for-one experience”

“We work with [students] one-on-one for a really intensive, career readiness training and advising process,” explained Emily Merson, CEO and cofounder of Global Experiences.

She explained that Global Experiences has built a network of thousands of employers around the world to offer varied internship experiences abroad, including fashion companies in Milan, members of Parliament in the UK, event planning in Barcelona, drafting design in Sydney, among others.

“We help find a placement that matches their goals from our existing database of over 2000 partnerships, organisations around the world,” she added.

ISEP CEO, John Lucas, told The PIE News that he pleased the partnership with Global Experiences is helping to diversify study abroad options for even more students.

“If you really want to diversify the student body and bring everyone in, you’ve got to provide programs that meet everyone’s needs,” he said.

“For some students, an academic experience is perfect, but there are lot of other students for whom their primary motivation is they want to get some practical work experience, and we’ve got to be able to offer them something as well.”

Merson noted a tremendous demand for international internships in recent years, and expects the demand to continue.

“Now it’s becoming increasingly a normal conversation to advise a student to consider an internship abroad for credit versus studying abroad,” she explained.

“An internship program abroad is a great solution for a student who is looking to kind of have the two-for-one experience where they get to spend time living abroad but they also get that professional experience in a global context that can really help them with their career.”

Students from ISEP member institutions will have the opportunity to intern in nine countries in 11 cities, including Barcelona; Dublin; Florence; London; Milan; New York; Paris; Shanghai; Sydney; Stockholm; and Washington, DC.