Summer Experience Funding: FAQ

Limited, need-based funding is available from Career Exploration and Development. Students have the opportunity to apply for this competitive, need-based funding for any student who has fully accepted a summer internship, music training program/festival or pre-professional experience that is unpaid or low-paid* and off-campus.

* ”low-paid” means any host organization’s hourly wage or stipend that is below the total maximum funding award of $4000 for the length of the experience. Any compensation that totals more than the maximum funding amount of $4,000 will be considered ineligible.*

Applying does not guarantee  requested funding will be approved, and students should plan for the possibility of not being awarded funding. Funding is accessible to freshmen, sophomores, juniors*, or seniors who are currently enrolled and will return to Oberlin College for the next academic year.  Graduating seniors are not eligible to apply for the funding.

Juniors* completing funded internships through the Internship+ Program are not eligible to receive additional funding through the Summer Experience Funding program.

F-1 visa students are eligible for all funds. Read the information for F-1 visa students on the International Student and Scholar Services website for information about CPT.

Career Exploration and Development has limited, need-based funding available for students to apply to this competitive funding program. Students with high and very high financial need (as determined by the Office of Financial Aid) will receive priority consideration for funding.

Career-related summer experiences allowable for funding include: Experiences must be in-person or hybrid. Fully remote experiences are not eligible.

• Internships (must be a fully accepted, full-time for at least 8 weeks or 320 hours)
• Pre-professional experiences including off-campus research and performance (must be substantial in intensity, although the length may vary)
• Students applying for funding to participate in a tuition or fee-based program (i.e. theater program, language study, volunteer abroad, writing institute, etc.) MUST have a clearly defined experiential component with at least 200 hours spent on activities that classify as an internship.

CED will consider funding students who receive a stipend from their host organization or financial assistance from another source. (Please contact internships@oberlin.edu with questions about Summer Experience Funding and host organization hourly wages or stipends.)

Summer experiences NOT allowable for funding include:

• Research with faculty or work with offices/departments on Oberlin’s campus
• Tuition or fee-based program (i.e. theater program, language study, volunteer abroad, writing institute, etc.) without an experiential component that includes at least 200 hours spent on activities that classify as an internship 
• Independent  or fully remote projects
• Internships+ participants are not eligible for additional funding through this program. For additional information, visit the Internship+ page.

While we are able to provide funding for in-person or hybrid experiences. Fully remote experiences are not eligible. 

Students must have fully accepted a summer experience prior to applying for funding. The application process requires an official acceptance or confirmation letter and job description to be uploaded for selection committee review.

Rather than selecting particular funds, students will be required to answer a series of screening questions on the funding application. The answers will help staff determine which fund(s) are the best fit for each particular summer experience.

We realize that a number of organizations may provide a student with the career-related experience they want for the summer, but it is best to focus on one organization in the application.

Students will need to have fully accepted a summer experience before applying for funding. The funding application will require a student to upload the confirmation/offer letter and a job description in order for the application to be considered. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Specific questions about Summer Experience Funding can be sent to internships@oberlin.edu.

Funding can only be applied to internship expenses related to the experience: travel, daily commuting, food, housing/rent, and program fee(s).

Students applying for funding to participate in a tuition- or fee-based program must provide a list with each expense covered by the program’s fee or tuition in their budget.  This often requires the student to contact an employee of the program directly, since these cost breakdowns are often not posted on program websites.  Since Oberlin has a policy of not paying tuition to other institutions, it is important to know how much of the tuition/fee is used for housing, food, transportation, and other allowable expenses.  Failure to provide the required cost breakdown may result in not receiving funding.

Due to the complexity associated with the required award payment processing steps; in order to ensure we can get students their funds in a timely fashion CED will not consider late applications.  Students must complete the online application (including uploading all required documents) by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, May 17, 2024.

Regardless of when you apply, your application will be reviewed based on the funds' eligibility criteria and until alloted funding is exhausted.

Applications will be reviewed by the selection committees in two rounds:

• First Round: applications from Febraury 2 - March 15
• Final Round: applications from March 16 - May 17 or until allotted funding is exhausted

For help in completing your Summer Experience Funding application, in-person and virtual appointments are available with our career advising staff via available appointment times through Handshake.

To learn more and ask questions about the application process, attend one of our 2024 Summer Experience Funding Application Information sessions:

• Info Session 1: Thursday, February 15 at 12:30 PM (In-person) - Register
• Info Session 2: Wednesday, March 13 at 7 PM (Virtual) - Register
• Info Session 3: Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm (Virtual) - Register

Students may be eligible for funding if they receive an hourly wage or stipend from the host organization or financial assistance from another source. 

We define ”low-paid” as any host organization’s hourly wage or stipend that is below the total maximum funding award of $4000 for the length of the experience. Any compensation that totals more than the maximum funding amount of $4,000 will be considered ineligible for additional funding through this program.

In order to apply for funding, students must have fully accepted a summer experience. Students are required to upload their job description and official acceptance/confirmation letter to support the summer opportunity and will be unable to complete the application without these items. 

Applying does not guarantee the requested funding will be approved, and students should plan for the possibility that they may not be awarded funding.

Selection committees will begin the review process of Summer Experience Funding applications after the first round closes on March 15 and proceed through the applying date of May 17 or until available funding is exhausted.  Students will begin to receive notification of award decisions in the beginning April and continue until funding has been exhausted. 

Funds will be disbursed to students beginning in April through the end of May.

Selection committees will make funding decisions based on:

• Financial need
• Eligibility criteria listed for each fund
• Quality of application materials
• Eligible expenses listed in the application budget

Students will receive notification of their status beginning in April and will continue until the application has closed on April 26th or until available funding has been exhausted. All award recipients must attend a meeting to discuss the requirements for funding. In addition, written confirmation from the organization that the student has been accepted for the experience is required before the student receives their award.

To receive their funds, all award recipients must:

• Attend a mandatory information meeting to discuss the end of summer assignment requirements
• Set up direct deposit through OberView by searching for Direct Deposit Allocation and updating the accounts payable section of their student account

CED will reach out, via email, to the organization contact listed on your application to receive confirmation that the student has been accepted for the experience, prior to funding being released.