15 Internships for College Students in Illinois
- Stephen Turban
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
If you are a college student who wants to explore potential careers, internships are one of the best ways to spend your breaks. Internships put you inside offices, labs, newsrooms, or field teams, where you work on professional projects and build industry-relevant skills. Doing an internship can make your applications to graduate school and jobs stand out by showing evidence of concrete skills.
What internships are available for college students in Illinois?
Illinois offers a mix of internships across sectors for college students. Universities, research labs, nonprofits, companies, and public offices regularly take on college interns. Internships help you figure out if a specific field is a good fit for you. They add to your resume and show you what kind of work feels best. That clarity will be useful when you start thinking about jobs or graduate school.
To help you find solid options, here are 15 internships for college students in Illinois!
If you’re looking for more prestigious internships, check out these blogs!
Location: Remote
Cost: Varies; full financial aid available
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Selective
Dates: 8 to 12 week sessions with varying dates; summer opportunities available
Application deadline: May/June for summer cohorts; spring, fall, and winter cohorts also available
Eligibility: Undergraduate and gap year students able to commit 10–20 hours per week
The Ladder University Internship Program connects you with global startups and nonprofits across diverse industries for an immersive, remote experience. Over 8–12 weeks, you will work on a project that directly contributes to your assigned organization’s goals, from business development to marketing, product research, or design. Throughout the internship, you will collaborate closely with your startup manager on various deliverables, gaining experience in professional communication, problem-solving, and project management. The program concludes with a final presentation of your project, showcasing the real-world impact of your work. Apply now!
Location: Mies Campus, Chicago
Stipend: Varies by employer; salary listed on the offer letter
Dates: January 12–May 16 (Spring); August 18–December 20 (Fall); May 18–August 16 (Summer)
Application Deadline: Varies by term
Eligibility: Must be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or hold a visa that authorizes work and have completed one full academic year (two full-time semesters); undergraduates must have a 2.25+ GPA; graduate/doctoral students must have a 3.0+ GPA
Illinois Institute of Technology’s internship program places you in a real workplace role that connects directly to what you are studying. You contribute to projects and apply classroom concepts to professional tasks over the course of a semester. The internship is formally structured through Career Services, so your work is recorded as administrative credit and allows you to maintain full-time student status while gaining experience. You move through the same expectations as any other employee, with clear start and end dates, supervision, and responsibilities.
Location: Chicago, IL (State of Illinois government offices)
Stipend: None
Dates: Summer: June 1–August 1 | Fall: September 8–December 12 | Spring: January 20–May 22
Application Deadline: Summer: April 14 | Fall: June 30 | Spring: October 31
Eligibility: Illinois residents earning academic credit or institutional funding; must be enrolled in a college/university program
Illinois Office of Equity’s part-time internship places you inside state government work focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. You will support projects by helping plan DEIA initiatives, attending meetings with public officials and community partners, and working on policy and legislative research that informs statewide practices. You are paired with mentors from the Office of Equity team, which guides you while also allowing you to develop a project tied to your own interests in equity work. The internship is unpaid and requires academic credit or external funding through your school.
Location: Schaumburg, IL
Stipend: $27/hour
Dates: Typically June–August
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Designed for students between their junior and senior years
The Reinsurance Underwriting Internship at American Agricultural Insurance Company places you inside the day-to-day work of a reinsurer. You will work with the Reinsurance Strategy, Placement, and Broker Assumed Operations teams, learning how underwriting decisions are made and how portfolios are managed. You spend time analyzing portfolio data and helping prepare reports and presentations that are used in internal reviews. A large part of your work involves finding ways to simplify and automate data collection and reporting, so you practice applying analytical skills to real operational problems.
Location: Chicago, IL
Stipend: Competitive compensation (specific amount determined per candidate)
Dates: Summer (Brattle begins interviewing in November; exact internship dates not listed)
Application Deadline: Not mentioned
Eligibility: Undergraduate students in quantitative fields such as economics, finance, business, or accounting
The Brattle Group Research Analyst Internship lets you apply economic and financial concepts to consulting projects alongside Brattle’s economists and industry experts. You’ll build quantitative models, conduct detailed research, review financial statements, and help prepare expert reports used in litigation and regulatory work. Projects span valuation, securities regulation, accounting investigations, bankruptcy, and white-collar fraud, giving you exposure to the kinds of analytical problems professional economists solve every day.
Location: Various U.S. locations
Stipend: $3,900–$5,100 per month
Dates: Summer (exact dates not provided)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Must have completed at least one year of a bachelor’s degree or be pursuing a master’s in a related field such as business, marketing, engineering, construction management, or marketing analytics
John Deere’s Construction and Forestry Marketing Summer Internship places you inside the business side of one of the company’s largest divisions. You will work on projects connected to operations, product portfolios, customer production systems, marketing, sustainability, and data analytics, seeing how these pieces fit together across teams. Your work is tied to active business needs, which means applying what you have learned in class to real industry problems and explaining your thinking through presentations and written updates. You collaborate with people across different functions and spend time learning from experienced mentors.
Location: Quad Cities, IL/IA or Des Moines, IA (domestic relocation required)
Stipend: $4,700–$6,100 per month
Acceptance rate/cohort size: There is no information available
Dates: Summer (exact dates not provided)
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Must be pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s degree in cybersecurity, computer science, computer engineering, software engineering, or a related field
John Deere’s Cyber Security Internship places you inside the company’s Technology group, where you work on a real security-focused project over the summer. You will be assigned to an area such as cloud security, vulnerability management, embedded systems, security by design, or the cyber defense center, and work on problems in the field. You apply concepts you may have studied in class to real systems, learning how a large organization protects its data, products, and infrastructure at scale. You work closely with experienced cybersecurity professionals who guide your work and explain how decisions are made in practice.
Location: Multiple U.S. and Canadian cities, including Chicago
Stipend: $36.05–$54.08/hour (Illinois; varies by area)
Dates: Nine-week summer internship (June–August)
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Undergraduate or master’s students graduating between September and July
BlackRock’s AMERS Summer Internship Program is a nine-week experience designed to show you what working as a full-time analyst actually feels like. You will begin with a firmwide orientation where you learn how BlackRock operates and hear from senior leaders before moving into your assigned team. Once on the team, you take on day-to-day responsibilities and work on real tasks that build both technical and professional skills. Your weeks include training sessions, speaker talks, and networking events, but most learning happens through the work itself. Over the summer, you build relationships with mentors and peers and get a clear sense of how different parts of the firm function together.
Location: Chicago, IL
Stipend: $20/hour
Dates: Session 1: June 1–July 24 | Session 2: June 15–August 7
Application Deadline: January 11
Eligibility: Must be a sophomore or above enrolled in an accredited college or graduate program; must be available for the full session.
Big Ten Network’s Summer Internship Program places you inside a working sports media operation for the summer. You will choose a focus area such as marketing, studio production, digital content, engineering, or remote production, and learn how live games, broadcasts, and promotions are put together. Your work depends on your placement and can include logging games, helping prepare materials for media days, supporting sponsorship activations, or assisting with broadcast and production technology. Alongside daily work, you take part in Fox Master Classes, professional development sessions, and networking events.
Location: Chicago, IL
Stipend: Competitive compensation (varies by business area)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: There is no information available
Dates: 10-week summer internship (exact dates not listed)
Application Deadline: There is no information available
Eligibility: Must be an undergraduate student graduating within one year after the internship; GPA of 3.2+ preferred; must have unrestricted U.S. work authorization
Barclays’ Banking Analyst Summer Internship is a ten-week program that places you directly inside an investment banking team. You will be assigned to a sector, product, or regional group to learn how deals are built by working on financial models, valuation tasks, market research, and client presentations. You also take part in due diligence and support live transactions, which gives you a clear view of what analysts actually do day to day. Alongside the work, you attend training sessions and networking events and receive regular guidance from both junior and senior bankers.
Location: Chicago, IL
Stipend: Competitive hourly pay (prior range $22–$34)
Dates: Summer
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Must be enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in a related field; U.S. work authorization required
The HNTB Technology Intern role offers a ground-level look at how digital systems shape large transportation and infrastructure projects. Working with HNTB’s Digital Transformation Solutions team, you will assist with research, data collection, recordkeeping, and the development of graphics and presentations that feed into engineering and planning work. The internship also leaves room to explore software development, data analytics, geospatial tools, or asset management systems, depending on your skills and interests.
Location: Mattoon, IL
Stipend: Up to $16/hour
Dates: Summer
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Must be a college junior or above pursuing a degree related to the department; minimum 3.2 GPA
Rural King’s Space Planning Internship places you inside the team that decides how products are organized across hundreds of store locations. You will work with a lead associate, supporting day-to-day planning tasks and contributing to projects that shape store layouts and merchandising decisions. You learn how planning choices affect sales, operations, and customer experience, while getting hands-on exposure to internal software tools and training sessions used by the company. The role involves regular collaboration with team members and other departments, so you practice communicating clearly, sharing feedback, and supporting internal partners.
Location: Geneva, IL
Stipend: Paid
Dates: June 1–August 7
Application Deadline: Rolling
Eligibility: Current undergraduate junior or senior, or a graduate student majoring in sales or marketing
McCormick & Company’s Business Development Internship places you inside the process of how new products and flavors move from idea to customer. You will work with teams across sales, marketing, and product development, helping activate new customers and support growth for existing accounts. Much of your time is spent helping teams prioritize opportunities in McCormick’s innovation funnel, learning how product concepts are evaluated, refined, and pushed toward launch. You collaborate with people in customer care, sales strategy, and even flavor science, which gives you a clear view of how different parts of the business respond to customer needs.
Location: Normal, IL
Stipend: Varies by employer
Dates: Fall, Spring, and Summer (internship schedule arranged individually)
Application Deadline: Fall/Spring: by 4 pm on the 10th day of the semester; Summer: by 4 pm on June 30
Eligibility: Must be a College of Business student
Illinois State University’s Accounting Internship lets you take what you are learning in class and use it in a real accounting workplace. You will work with an employer on accounting tasks, which can include financial reporting, auditing support, tax preparation, or industry-specific accounting work. If you want to earn academic credit, you submit an application that explains your responsibilities so the internship coordinator can confirm the work matches the level of your coursework. Many students find internships through ISU’s Accounting Career Fairs, where you meet firms, talk through roles, and handle interviews yourself.
Location: Normal, IL
Stipend: Varies by employer; internships may be paid or unpaid; students must pay tuition for academic credit.
Dates: Fall, Spring, and Summer (internship timing arranged individually)
Application Deadline: Not specified
Eligibility: Must be a College of Business student
Illinois State University’s Finance, Insurance, and Law Internship places you in a professional setting where you spend at least 135 hours doing real work tied to your coursework. You will work under supervision in fields like finance, insurance, or law, getting a practical sense of what these careers look like while building experience that employers value. Throughout the internship, you receive structured feedback through mid-term and final evaluations, which helps you understand where you are doing well and where you need to improve. You also complete a reflection paper for the Finance Internship Coordinator, stepping back to connect what you did on the job with what you are learning in class.
One other option—the Lumiere Research Scholar Program
If you’re interested in pursuing independent research, consider applying to one of the Lumiere Research Scholar Programs, selective online high school programs for students founded with researchers at Harvard and Oxford. Last year, we had over 4,000 students apply for 500 spots in the program! You can find the application form here.
Also check out the Lumiere Research Inclusion Foundation, a non-profit research program for talented, low-income students. Last year, we had 150 students on full need-based financial aid!
Stephen is one of the founders of Lumiere and a Harvard College graduate. He founded Lumiere as a PhD student at Harvard Business School. Lumiere is a selective research program where students work 1-1 with a research mentor to develop an independent research paper.
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