Our nation’s current and future challenges make it imperative that government identify, recruit and retain the next generation of public servants.
With just under 7% of the full-time federal workforce and 12% of the state and local workforce under the age of 30, executive branch agencies are working to meet this need, prioritizing the design and implementation of paid internship programs that provide students with valuable work experience, an expanded professional network, and a better understanding of the importance and impact of public service.
Managed by the Partnership for Public Service, the Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program is an exciting, paid opportunity for students of all majors to gain professional experience in federal and state government. Since 2022, the program places highly skilled talent from across the country into government and offers students the opportunity to apply their educational training to work in a government agency.
Within the Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program, navigate to the individual program pages for each of the opportunities available:
Summer 2026 Applications Open Now
We are now accepting applications for the following summer cohorts:
Deadline: Friday, December 5, 2025 by 11:59 pm ET
Please note – candidates may only apply to one of the cohorts for Summer 2026. If multiple applications are received from the same candidate, the Partnership will reach out to the candidate and ask that they select one cohort to be considered for.
Overall Program Benefits
Selected participants in the program will receive:
- A 10-12 week internship at a federal or state government agency.
- A stipend.
- Professional development sessions, including orientation and networking events throughout the duration of the internship.
To learn about specific benefits of each cohort, please visit its corresponding tab at the top of this page.
Overall Program Eligibility
To apply to the program, candidates must be:
- U.S. citizens at the time of application submission.
- Currently enrolled at an accredited educational institution in an associates, undergraduate or graduate program for the entire academic year. Undergraduates must be rising second-year students/sophomores and above at the time of the internship.
- Able to demonstrate superior academic achievement and have a GPA above 2.5.
- Interested in specific career tracks. Career tracks might differ each cohort, so please visit the specific program tab to look at the options available.
Students admitted to the program must successfully complete a background check before beginning the internship.
Past Intern Placements
- Office of the Chief Information Officer, STEM Intern
- Supported programs related to department’s AI and Emerging Technologies working group. Developed knowledge around U.S. Patent Law and current debates around emerging technologies.
- Office of Scheduling and Advance, Office of the Secretary Intern
- Provided administrative support to Secretary and Deputy Secretary and delivered department policies to the White House, Congress, and the public.
- Office of Cargo and Commercial Sealift, Maritime Administration (MARAD), Trade Policy Intern
- Developed policy memos on U.S. offshore wind development, which focused on how MARAD can better support U.S. shipbuilders constructing specialized offshore wind vessels.
- Office of the Secretary, Office of Deputy Secretary, Communications Intern
- Worked on communications programming related to Deputy Secretary initiatives which included developing a summer speaker series and working with senior leadership to promote the agency’s work.
- Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Intern
- Explored and used AI and machine learning methods to train and evaluate object detection models to detect fish in survey trawls.
- Coast Survey Development Laboratory, Intern
- Analyzed data on sea surface conditions and sea surface height using machine learning (ML) techniques.
- Maryland Department of the Environment, AI Intern
- Built three AI chatbots with the goals of streamlining the environmental permitting process and simplifying technical workflows.
- Maryland Department of Education, AI Intern
- Researched and made recommendations for the use of AI for the Maryland public school system, module for teachers, students and parents from grades K-12.
FAQs
U.S. citizens currently enrolled at an accredited educational institution in an undergraduate (rising 2nd years/sophomores and above) or graduate program with a 2.5 GPA or above are eligible to apply.
Students with an expected graduation date of May/June 2026 are also eligible to apply.
Optional reference letters may be uploaded directly through the application portal or emailed to internships@ourpublicservice.org with the applicant’s name referenced in the subject line.
All reference letters must be emailed by December 5, 2025 by 11:59 pm EST.
Stipend amounts vary by agency and opportunity type. Please refer to the Program Benefits section on each page to learn more.
In-person internship opportunities in the Washington, D.C., area, as well as other U.S. states are available. In-person opportunities outside of Washington, D.C. will be announced once confirmed.
Fully remote internship options for Future Leaders may be limited as more government internship opportunities are now offered in-person or hybrid only. Government agencies will ultimately decide if an internship opportunity can be offered on a fully remote basis.
Participating agencies for the Future Leaders in Public Service Internship Program vary by each term and will be added to this website once they are confirmed. Please refer to this website for any updates.
Participating agencies will be confirmed between Fall 2025 and Winter 2026. If candidates move to the next round, some will receive communication from the Partnership seeking the candidate’s agency preferences for their internship placement depending on their program track selections.
Please note – not all program tracks will be offered among multiple government agencies.
The Partnership for Public Service does not provide housing for the Future Leaders program.