Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism. Support independent student journalism.
The Dartmouth
July 14, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

More students apply for funding

Demand for internship funding from Dartmouth has increased this year, as students seek unpaid opportunities outside of the corporate world in light of the economic crisis, according to College officials.

The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding and the Rockefeller Center have both seen increases in the number of students applying for internship funding this academic year as compared with the last academic year, according to Christianne Wohlforth, associate director of the Dickey Center, and Danielle Thompson, assistant director of student and public programs at the Rockefeller Center.

The Rockefeller Center in particular has seen an increase in the number of applicants for the Summer term, Thompson said.

The Tucker Foundation, however, has not seen an increase, Tracy Dustin-Eichler, volunteer program advisor for the foundation, said.

"I expected to see a huge increase of applicants, but it was the same as last summer," she said, adding that 58 students applied for Tucker funding this term.

Funding applications for all three organizations were due last Thursday.

While an average of 20 students generally apply for Dickey Center internship funding each term, 35 applied for the Summer term this year, according to Wohlforth.

There were 40 applications for summer leave-term internships through the Rockefeller Center, an all-time high, Thompson said. Usually, the Rockefeller Center awards funding to 15 students each term, she said.

All three organizations increased the maximum amount of funding students can request from $3,000 to $4,000 this year.

The relatively high number of applications is likely a result of the decreased availability of internship opportunities in the corporate sector, Thompson said.

"Some of the companies students relied on no longer have internships," she said. "This seems counterintuitive until you evaluate the degree of human resources involved [in recruiting]."

There has been a 20-percent drop in the number of corporate recruiters on campus, said Monica Wilson, associate director of employee relations at Career Services.

"When employers cut their budget, they cut transportation," Wilson said. "Plus, employers assume, why would students want to work at a company with low organization morale, slow business and layoffs?"

A lack of organizational confidence during the economic crisis also taints interns' experiences, according to Wilson.

"The creative [students] lose passion, ideals and their overall mission," she said.

As a result, there are now more applicants applying for unpaid internships in more "creative" fields, Wilson added.

"Students are going for environmental, government and not-for-profit internships, mostly unpaid," she said.

Dustin-Eichler agreed, saying that students who may have previously wanted to go into business are now more likely to expand their interests.

Applicants who apply for Dickey Center funding are also increasingly casting a wider geographic net for internship opportunities, Wohlforth said.

"Previously, students remained closer to home, but they are now pursuing internships in foreign countries," she said. "Paid internships are drying up, so students have to identify internship opportunities on their own."

The Dickey Center does its "best to fund the really strong applicants," Wohlforth said.

"We made a commitment to respond to the increase of applications by finding a way to fund them," she said. "We are funding more because good applications keep coming."

Likewise, the Rockefeller Center aims to provide some level of financial support to every strong applicant, Thompson said.

"The only applications not funded are ones in which the student withdrew from consideration or did not complete the application requirements," she said in an e-mail.

Wilson said students must be persistent when applying for any internship.

"Especially now, students should follow up in a week or so," she said.

Persistence, however, may not be enough in light of increased competition, Thompson said.

"It's the applicants who are one to two years out of school who are getting their feet in the door and competing with [undergraduates]," she said. "Employers prefer to give unpaid internships to candidates who have experience and degrees."

Dartmouth alumni and seasoned employees utilize their networks and are not afraid to "cold-call" directly after seeing an advertisement, according to Wilson. These are two techniques that undergraduates should learn to utilize, she said.