§1131c Internships

Summary

The Institute must make agreements with certain colleges and universities — like historically Black colleges and universities, tribally controlled colleges, Alaska Native‑serving, Native Hawaiian‑serving, Hispanic‑serving schools, other schools with many minority students, and schools that train foreign service professionals — so students can do internships. These internships take place during the junior and senior school years and as summer internships after the sophomore and junior years. Students can work with international groups, volunteer groups, or government agencies, including the Agency for International Development, the Department of State, the International Monetary Fund, the National Security Council, the Organization of American States, the Export‑Import Bank, the United States International Development Finance Corporation, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the World Bank, and the United Nations. The Institute must also set up internships for students who have finished a baccalaureate degree. Those programs must help students prepare for a master’s degree, be carried out with help from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and give work experience that prepares students for graduate study. The law creates an Interagency Committee on Minority Careers in International Affairs in the executive branch with at least 7 members. It must include the officials (or their designees) listed: the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs; the Assistant Secretary and Director General of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service (Commerce); the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education (Education); the Director General of the Foreign Service (State); and the General Counsel of the Agency for International Development. Each year the Committee must advise the Secretary and the Institute on how to guide internship students toward international careers, find federal internship opportunities in international affairs, and promote policies in participating departments and agencies to support the program’s goals.