CRS offers a limited number of paid and unpaid internship opportunities annually. Placements are made in a variety of public policy and functional areas, and work assignments are aligned with the intern's academic interests and/or professional goals. CRS internships give students and professionals a unique opportunity to observe and learn about the legislative process at the national level.

STUDENT DIVERSITY INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

CRS partners with a network of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) along with five (5) other organizations to offer paid internship opportunities to outstanding undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate students each year. Descriptions of the partner programs that constitute the CRS Student Diversity Internship Program follow:

Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS)–Summer Internships
APAICS recruits Asian American/Pacific Islander undergraduate students nationwide and places them in eight-week paid summer internships in Washington, D.C. The internship period is early June through the end of July, and APAICS hosts several cultural/developmental events for all of its interns throughout the summer. For more information, please visit the APAICS website. [click here]

Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF)–Congressional Fellows Program
CBCF invites students just completing graduate coursework, professionals with a minimum of five years experience pursuing graduate studies, and college faculty members to apply for its nine-month Congressional Fellowship Program. Upon completion of their Fellowships, some CBCF Fellows may choose to serve a three-month (June through August) Fellowship with CRS. For more information, please visit the CBCF Fellowship Program website. [click here]

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU)–National Internship Program
HACU recruits undergraduate and graduate students in a wide range of fields/disciplines from Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs), for the HACU National Internship Program (HNIP). Paid 10- and 12-week internship opportunities are offered for spring, summer, and fall terms. For more information, please visit the HNIP website. [click here]

The Washington Center–American Indian/Native Alaskan Leadership Initiative
The Washington Center (TWC) partners with colleges and universities with significant Native American/Alaskan Native student populations nationwide to invite outstanding undergraduates to participate in this program. Spring/fall internships last 15 weeks; summer internships last 10 weeks. For more information, please visit TWC's website. [click here]

United Negro College Fund (UNCF)–Institute for International Public Policy (IIPP) Fellowships
For the IIPP Fellowship Program, underrepresented minority sophomore students are recruited from across the nation to apply for participation in a five-year sequence of summer policy institutes, study abroad, intensive language training, internships, and graduate study. IIPP Fellows are invited to request placement in CRS for the internship portion of their Fellowships. For more information, please visit the UNCF website. [click here]

VOLUNTEER INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

CRS accepts a limited number of volunteer interns each year. Although most interns are graduate or law students, exceptional undergraduate students are also welcome to apply. Volunteer interns assist professional CRS staff in performing research and reference in response to public policy-related issues and questions. Through this work, volunteers have an opportunity to participate in the legislative process and to develop valuable research skills in a public policy setting. Additional information is available from the CRS Volunteer Internship Program home page.

SPECIAL HIRING PROGRAMS

In addition to internships, CRS offers three special hiring programs to fill permanent positions outside the CRS Merit Selection Process.

Presidential Management Fellows Program
CRS is a participating agency in the Presidential Management Fellows (PMF) program. Administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the PMF program is designed to attract to federal service outstanding graduate-level students from a wide variety of academic disciplines who have an interest in, and commitment to, a career in the analysis and management of public policies and programs. Additional information is available from the CRS Presidential Management Fellows Program page. For more information, contact D. Andrew Druliner at adruliner@crs.loc.gov.

HACU Cooperative Education Program
Through the HACU Cooperative Education Program (HCEP), qualified students who successfully complete 640 hours (120 days) of career-related work at CRS may be converted noncompetitively to permanent-conditional positions for which they qualify within 120 days of completing their academic degree requirements. HACU student internship service counts toward the mandatory 120 days. For more information, contact Celia Rivas at crivas@crs.loc.gov.

CRS Law Recruit Program
The CRS Law Recruit Program offers law students the opportunity for permanent employment as legislative attorneys with the CRS American Law Division. The program is only open to law students in their final year of law school. For more information, contact Kevin Greely at kgreely@crs.loc.gov.