The NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program annually provides on-the-job learning experiences at the national office in Indianapolis to college graduates who are passionate in their pursuit of a career in college sports administration.
With a focus on ethnic minorities, women and former student-athletes, this yearlong program gives insight to the inner workings of college sports from the national perspective. Interns over the past 25 years have taken their experience and institutional knowledge onto campuses and into the conference offices as full-time administrators.
NCAA postgraduate interns are nonexempt employees with benefits and they receive comprehensive training, mentor assignments and networking opportunities throughout the internship. Additionally, postgraduate interns plan and execute professional development site visits to conference offices, member campuses and affiliate organizations to further their knowledge of the collegiate sports industry and network with today's leaders.
"I give all of the credit for my career path back to starting as an NCAA intern and really understanding the workings of the national office and college athletics.”
"When I left the NCAA and went to a campus, I was prepared because I was actually doing the work of an athletics professional while an intern at the national office.”
"The internship changed my life. I tell everybody to apply for one."
Who is eligible
Applicants must be a college graduate from a four-year NCAA member school by the start date of the internship program. The NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program is not designed to provide credit toward an undergraduate degree, but an intern may be eligible to earn credit toward a graduate degree.
How to Apply
The online application for the NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program is available via NCAA Program Hub during the dates listed above.
What internships are available
The NCAA offers yearlong internships within several focus areas at the national office: administrative services, accounting, championships, marketing, communications, education and community engagement, executive, inclusion, governance, public relations and regulatory affairs. To find specific departmental offerings, please see the box at the top right of the page and follow the hyperlinks.
2021-22 NCAA PGIP Update
This past year has been unprecedented in so many ways and has had a transformative effect on the world and in college sports. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have caused us to be immensely flexible and approach today’s problems with reactive solutions.
As a result of the impact of the ongoing pandemic, the NCAA has made the decision to not select a new intern class for the 2021-22 academic year, instead extending the current NCAA postgraduate intern class for a second year. This means that there will not be a new cohort of interns selected from this fall’s applicant pool. Additionally, we will not fill vacancies should current NCAA postgraduate interns depart their roles. This was an extremely difficult decision, but it is a decision made in the best interest of all involved during these unpredictable times.
We truly appreciate your understanding and we recognize the immense disappointment that comes along with this decision for all our applicants.
Questions?
For more information about the NCAA Postgraduate Internship Program, please contact us via email at internship@ncaa.org.
