Participation in internships and other external opportunities are approved to occur mainly during the summer months.  When participation is vital to the completion of the dissertation and aligns with degree progress, a student may be approved to participate during the academic year as well.

Part-time participation requires a work obligation of 10 hours or fewer per week.  Full-time participation requires a work obligation of 20 hour or more per week.  Obligations requiring between 10 and 20 hours per week will not be approved.

External opportunities for Ph.D. and Master's students must meet the following criteria:

• Funding for the opportunity must come from an outside entity, such as a corporation, research institute, or other academic institution.
• The external opportunity must be directly related to a graduate student’s field of study and/or tied to degree progress.
• The external opportunity may not inhibit progress toward degree.

Graduate students who will not be present on campus while participating in an internship or external opportunity must review the criteria for in absentia status to confirm enrollment in the appropriate status prior to the participation start date.

The Graduate School is currently accepting External Opportunity Requests for opportunities with a start date between January 1 and April 30, 2025 only. 

Please refrain from submitting External Opportunity Requests with start dates occurring on or after May 1, 2025. The Graduate School will begin accepting these applications on or about April 1, 2025.  

Graduate students are required to submit an External Opportunity Request application through TigerHub. A PDF copy of the offer letter must be uploaded to the External Opportunity Request application.

International graduate students are encouraged to speak with the Davis International Center prior to submitting their External Opportunity application.

Application Approvals

All External Opportunity Request applications must be approved by the graduate student’s adviser and/or Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). Some applications may require additional approval by the Graduate School. Application review typically takes two to four weeks to complete.

External Opportunity Request applications must be approved prior to the participation start date.

International graduate students requiring work authorization to participate in an internship or other external opportunity are required to submit an External Opportunity application. 

Curricular practical training (CPT) allows enrolled graduate students within their regular program lengths to hold off-campus employment that is directly related to their field of study.  Students approved by their departments to participate in CPT are enrolled in a program-specific CPT course.  Work completed through approved employment is evaluated academically by the CPT faculty instructor.  CPT courses must be approved by individual programs as part of their curriculum and must be commensurate with degree level.  

For information related to CPT and to view the full list of CPT courses available, please refer to the Davis International Center website.  

Students should contact their academic advisers and/or their home departments for questions on the approval status of submitted external opportunity requests.

Please email [email protected] for questions about the External Opportunity policy or External Opportunity Request application in TigerHub.

Graduate students who accept internships or external opportunities must adhere to the Graduate School Employment Policy and Internship Policy while participating in such activities. International students also must comply with all rules on the Davis International Center’s employment page or risk violating their visa immigration status.