The Honors Internship Program is a 10-week, paid internship for college undergraduate and graduate students. While exploring our exciting career options, students work side-by-side with FBI employees at our Washington, D.C.-area Headquarters or in Field Offices around the country. Open to a wide range of academic areas, this internship offers experiences students can’t find elsewhere.

While the application period for the 2020 Honors Internship Program is now closed, you can read more about our internship qualifications to prepare for our next application period.

Internship Qualifications

General Requirements

To apply for the Honors Internship Program, applicants must:

• Be a U.S. citizen.
• Attend a college or university full time as an undergraduate (freshman, sophomore, junior or senior), graduate or post-doctoral student. Students are not eligible if they will graduate before the program start date; exceptions are permitted to students continuing their education in the semester immediately following.
• Have and maintain a 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) or better at the time of application, throughout the application process and for the duration of the internship program.
• A first-semester freshman or student attending a school that does not provide a GPA will need to meet alternate criteria. Instead of a 3.0 GPA or higher, the applicant must have maintained at least a 3.0 high school GPA and have scored a 1500 out of 2400 on the SAT (1000 out of 1600 on new SATs) or scored a 21 or higher on the ACT.
• Pass all of the FBI employment background investigation requirements and be able to receive a Top Secret Clearance.

Educational Disciplines

The FBI is interested in applicants with a wide range of educational backgrounds. These include but are not limited to the following:

• Accounting
• Business
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
• English
• Film
• Finance
• Foreign Languages
• Human Resources
• Information Technology
• Journalism
• Law
• Marketing
• Public Relations
• Visual Arts

Candidate Skills

While applicants come from a range of academic backgrounds, the most competitive applicants also possess the following skills:

• Strong analytical thinking abilities.
• Flexibility and adaptability.
• Initiative and self-motivation.
• Collaboration — works well with others.
• Good judgment and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.

Location Choices

Intern assignments are based on the current skills the FBI needs. As part of the application, candidates are asked to pick their top six desired Field Office and Headquarters locations; these are then taken into account during the selection process. To find the closest Field Office or view all of our locations, visit the Locations page.

Headquarters selections include the FBI’s main Headquarters in Washington, D.C., as well as Quantico, VA, Clarksburg, WV, and Winchester, VA. Quantico opportunities include the Training, Operational Technology or Laboratory divisions. Clarksburg offers opportunities in Criminal Justice Information Services and Winchester offers Information Management Division opportunities. To learn more about the different FBI Headquarters divisions please click here.

Candidates who select Quantico, Clarksburg, or Winchester must have their own transportation to and from work; public transportation is unavailable in these areas.