More than 40 percent of the members of the class of 2025 work in either finance or consulting, less than in previous years. Now, with $30 million in endowed gifts to the Center for Career Design to fund unpaid or underpaid internships, that downward trend is likely to continue.
“We don’t want students to default to finance and consulting,” says Joe Catrino, director of the center. “Those are wonderful fields, but we have students who go into it and come back to us after they’re in the field for a couple of years saying, ‘I don’t like this.’ ”
At her inauguration in 2023, President Sian Beilock made increasing the lifelong value of Dartmouth one of five key priorities. One way to do that is by investing in career exploration, including in fields where unpaid internships historically have posed financial barriers for many students.
By funding more internships than ever, the center aims to give students the freedom to explore a wider range of careers before graduation.
“It became pretty evident that funding was required,” Catrino says.
With the endowment, the center can spend about $1.2 million per school year to fund internships for about 300 students, with a maximum of $6,500 available to a student in a single term.
Joey Jerva ’27 serves as general manager of Dartmouth College Radio and knew he wanted to gain more experience in radio. A music and biochemistry major from North Carolina, he was awarded the maximum to fund an internship in New York City at New York Public Radio’s All of It show.
“The tough thing with working in public broadcasting and public radio is that they don’t have a ton of funding for internships,” he says. “So a lot of their internship programs have been cut completely or are unpaid.”
Knowing the College offered funding, Jerva emailed about 20 stations before WNYC got back to him. He agreed to take the internship after ensuring that he had outside funding.
These are personalized internship experiences that align with specific career goals but also allow for exploration.”
—Amy Tietjen Smith, assistant director for internships and funding
Ryan Carpenter ’29 received funding for an internship this summer at The Magic Factory, a children’s publishing and entertainment company based in North Carolina.
Carpenter, who loved the company’s books growing up, reached out to see if she could help during the summer and was offered an unpaid internship. She had learned about the center’s funding after meeting with a career coach during spring term, so she applied, describing her internship and laying out a budget.
“I was looking for a paid internship,” Carpenter says. “It was definitely a big factor that the center was willing to provide that funding.”
She worked the 10-week role virtually from her home in Los Angeles and traveled to Chicago for the 2026 American Library Association conference.
“It taught me that I definitely want to work in a field where I can be creative,” says Carpenter, who remains undecided on her major or career plans. “I learned a lot about building relationships wherever you’re working. It was really special to see what it looks like to own and run a business.”
Amy Tietjen Smith, the center’s assistant director for internships and funding, says the program has opened the door to a range of experiences.
“There has definitely been a level of enthusiasm about the possibilities,” she says. “These students have incredible opportunities in organizations that are all over the map. These are personalized internship experiences that align with specific career goals but also allow for exploration.”
For the 2025-26 school year, 463 students applied and 335 were awarded funding, compared with 161 applications and 65 funded internships two years ago. The average award was $4,267.
Funding was split pretty evenly among the center’s six career communities: business; STEM+; government, law, and policy; arts and creative; good and green; and exploratory.
Catrino says the program’s growth would not be possible without alumni partnerships and a strong willingness to support it philanthropically. “We can’t do this without the powerful alumni community.”
