Internships can provide excellent opportunities to understand the applications of psychological science in the world beyond Macalester.

Our urban location affords a rich array of placement options, including sites focusing on clinical and counseling, health, industrial-organizational, developmental, forensic, and educational psychology.

During an internship, your primary work happens at your off-campus site, but you will have a Macalester faculty sponsor with whom you will meet throughout the semester and to whom you will submit work.

This work typically consists of readings and writing assignments that link your hands-on learning to the scholarly literature; the specific details are arranged jointly with your site supervisor and faculty sponsor through a learning contract.

The vast majority of internships occur during the academic year, and you may opt to earn up to four credits per internship. Internships conducted during the January term are covered by your regular tuition and can earn up to two credits.
Read our internship policy.

Psychology faculty can help you identify internships that suit your particular interests. Please also consult with Career Exploration. They maintain databases of past internships, and they can offer you assistance choosing and registering an internship for credit.

Recent internship placements:

  • Fraser Children and Family Center (a school for children with autistic spectrum disorders)
  • Tubman Family Alliance (a domestic violence facility)
  • Family Tree Clinic (a reproductive health clinic)
  • Breaking Free (an organization for prostituted women)
  • Hubert H. Humphrey Job Corps (a residential program to help young adults who did not succeed in traditional high schools)
  • People Incorporated (an organization serving people with serious and persistent mental illness)
  • Minnesota Mental Health Association
  • Midwest Health Center for Women (a reproductive health clinic)
  • People’s Clinic Medical Center (a public health clinic serving the Cedar Riverside neighborhood with a particular focus on Somali health)
  • Sexual Offense Services of Ramsey County (a crisis hotline for people who have experienced sexual assault)
  • Hmong American Partnership (an agency committed to serving the Hmong population in the Twin Cities)
  • Neighborhood House (an organization devoted to improving the life of recent immigrants and refugees through multicultural and multilingual services)
  • Center for Victims of Torture (a global organization focused on improving the well-being of survivors of political torture through both direct care and outreach services)
  • Child Trends (a nonpartisan policy organization interested in improving the well-being of children and families)
  • Amicus (a community organization that serves inmates and ex-offenders)
Psychresearchlist.com may also be a good source for paid summer internships. We cannot vouch for the quality of the listings on this site, but it might help you generate some ideas.