Internship FAQ's

Internships are still encouraged but will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Remote internships are ideal at this time and many of the internship providers have made this adjustment to accommodate student internships. Please continue to communicate your interests in doing an internship with your Internship Coordinator and Academic Advisor.

The duration of your internship should consider the needs of your Internship Provider, the number of hours you are able to commit to working and a discussion with your Internship Coordinator for your major. Each credit hour is 45 hours of work so 1 credit = 45 hours. We prefer that students complete internships with a minimum of 3 credit hours especially if you are requesting funding assistance. Credits must be proportional to the number of hours worked on the internship.

For on-campus paid student internships, the student should be hired via the normal student employee hire process and will be limited to working 19 hours per week. You can find more information about doing your internship on campus on the Internships page.

Requests to access Yamagata funding for your for-credit internship experience will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

The Yamagata fund should first be utilized in the target area of Oceania and the Asian rim and may also be approved to be used in other international locations. Yamagata funding is NOT available for internship experiences in the U.S. and Canada.

Post-covid we are grateful that we are able to provide some support for internship assistance. Yamagata funding is being reviewed on a case-by-case basis for approved for credit internship experiences to areas outside of the US and Canada.

Effective spring 2020, the internship discount was revised by the University. The 50% tuition reduction is no longer applicable. Moving forward students will only receive the internship discount on the internship credits they are working towards for the semester that they are enrolled.

Political Science, Exercise Science, Social Work, Education, and Hotel and Tourism Management majors all require internships. Not all majors require internships but all of our students are invited to do an internship if it fits into their academic schedule. Handshake is a great resource to help you find these opportunities.

No, if a leave of absence is approved for fall you may enroll for classes in the winter semester. If you elect not to attend in the winter semester after you’ve taken a leave of absence in the fall you will have to reapply for admission.

Reimbursements for internships are not available. If you have been approved for Yamagata funding you should work with Career Services to secure funding. Please email acs@byuh.edu to see if you would qualify for this funding. Yamagata funding does not provide assistance back to the US or Canada.

45 work hours equals one credit hour. (3 credit hours would be 135 work hours; 4 credit hours would be 180 work hours and so forth)

The BYU-Hawaii internship policy has outlined that in order for a student to do an internship for credit they must:

1. Have completed at least 60 credits total to be eligible to do an internship for credit. 
2. Have completed at least 8 credits within the field of study. 
3. Be in good academic standing which means achieving a GPA of 2.0 in the semester prior to their internship. 

Please follow up with your Academic Advisor on your eligibility to do your internship.

We recommend planning your internship in advance. We typically encourage students to plan 3-6 months ahead of time to avoid last-minute registration delays. Some internship experiences require students to begin the process a year in advance. Please be aware of application deadlines for the school and the internship provider.