14 Writing Internships for College Students
- Stephen Turban
- 2 hours ago
- 9 min read
Writing is a skill you use in almost every field. If you’re a college student thinking about improving your writing skills or exploring a writing-focused career, consider doing a writing internship.
Why should I participate in a writing internship in college?
Writing internships help you understand how ideas move from early drafts to final pieces. You learn to edit with intention, research with clarity, and work within an editorial process guided by mentors. You also begin to see how different industries rely on writing in different ways, from journalism and marketing to research and communications.
The experience can be very useful later on. You gain portfolio pieces, clearer writing habits, and examples you can include on applications, resumes, or interviews. These internships also help you show commitment to a craft that many colleges and employers value.
With that in mind, here are 14 writing internships for college students. If you're looking for more prestigious internship opportunities, you should check out this set of blogs as well!
Location: Remote
Cost: Varies according to program (financial aid available)
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.
Application Deadline: Deadlines vary depending on the cohort. Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November).
Eligibility: Students who can work for 10-20 hours/week, for 8-12 weeks. Open to high school students, undergraduates, and gap year students!
Ladder’s University Internship Program is an eight-week, remote experience that connects college students and young professionals with fast-growing startups for real project work. You’re matched with a company based on your interests, and your weekly schedule stays light enough, about five to ten hours, to fit alongside classes or other commitments. Depending on your placement, you might build a machine learning model, conduct market research, design a product prototype, or contribute to a go-to-market plan. The work is structured to give you material you can use later on your resume or portfolio. You will work closely with your manager at the startup. Apply now!
Location: The Washington Post, Washington, D.C.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; Pays a stipend
Dates: June - August (10 weeks)
Application Deadline: October 3
Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in a degree program.
The Washington Post’s newsroom internship is widely seen as one of the toughest and most respected reporting opportunities in the country. You will work as full members of the staff, and you’re expected to contribute to reporting, pitching, writing, and digital work that meets the paper’s standards. Depending on your placement, you might be covering breaking news, digging through documents for enterprise stories, building visuals, or helping shape the Post’s digital coverage in real time. You work directly with experienced editors and reporters who push you to sharpen your sourcing, tighten your writing, and handle stories from idea to publication. By the end of the summer, most interns leave with standout clips.
Location: Fully remote
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship.
Dates: 10-week, 28-hour work-week sessions in the Summer (June-August) and 10-week, 21-hour work-week sessions in the Fall (September-December) and Spring (January-April).
Application Deadline: October 6 for the summer sessions, March 17 for the fall/spring sessions
Eligibility: Open to all current undergraduate students.
The Penguin Random House Internship Program gives you a close look at how a major publisher turns manuscripts into finished books. You’re placed in a department like editorial, marketing, publicity, production, or another part of the publishing pipeline, so you spend the summer learning one craft in depth. Day-to-day work might involve reading submissions, helping with campaign planning, drafting copy, reviewing layouts, or supporting author outreach, depending on where you’re assigned. You’re paired with a mentor and attend sessions with senior staff that break down how the industry actually works, from acquisitions to sales.
Location: HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY (all summer internships are based at the NYC headquarters). Spring internship locations vary by role.
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship
Dates: 10-week programs in the Spring and Summer
Application Deadline: October 10
Eligibility: Open to current undergraduate and graduate students
HarperCollins’ paid spring and summer internships give you a real seat inside one of the Big Five publishers. You work about 28 hours a week in a specific department: editorial, marketing, publicity, sales, or another part of the publishing pipeline, so you contribute to the day-to-day work of a publishing team. That can mean reading submissions, helping shape campaign plans, drafting copy, tracking sales materials, or coordinating with authors and agents, depending on your placement. The program helps you understand how the business runs and where you might fit in it. You’ll also join a small group of interns to create and pitch a full publishing project to senior leadership, which becomes one of the most important pieces of the experience.
Location: The Wall Street Journal newsrooms in New York, NY; Detroit, MI; San Francisco, CA; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Washington, D.C.; and London
Cost/Stipend: No cost; paid internship
Dates: 10 weeks during the summer (June–August)
Application Deadline: October 31
Eligibility: College sophomores or juniors; must be at least 18 years old; must have completed at least one prior professional news media internship or published exceptional work with a campus outlet or as a freelancer.
The Wall Street Journal internship puts you inside one of the world's most respected newsrooms, where you'll work as a full journalist from day one, not as an assistant. You will report stories, create graphics and videos, help produce podcasts, and pitch your ideas to editors who give you feedback and deadlines. You work 35 hours a week alongside experienced reporters and editors who care about your growth. Most interns leave with published bylines and a real sense of what it takes to work at a professional news organization where accuracy and audience matter most.
Location: Hybrid roles in offices like New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; Chicago, IL; and Los Angeles, CA.
Cost/Stipend: Paid internship
Dates: Varies by role
Application Deadline: Rolling deadlines vary by open position
Eligibility: Primarily open to rising college seniors. Some teams also recruit graduating seniors and post-graduates. Specific criteria vary by department.
Edelman’s internship gives you a close look at agency life without boxing you into a rigid program. You work directly on client teams, helping with research, drafting content, building media lists, and supporting campaigns as they develop. You might write copy or pull background materials, help prep for an event, or brainstorm with senior staff. The agency’s open structure means you can often sit in with teams outside your main assignment, which is useful if you want to understand how corporate communications, public affairs, brand strategy, and digital content all intersect. Edelman also runs workshops and skill sessions throughout the internship.
Location: Various studios and companies, Los Angeles, CA
Cost/Stipend: An hourly stipend of $18-19/hour is provided
Dates: June 15 – August 7
Application Deadline: January 7
Eligibility: Open to current undergraduate students enrolled in an accredited college or university in the United States and taking at least 6 units. Additional criteria may apply, varying by internship position.
The Television Academy Foundation’s Summer Internship Program is one of the most respected ways to break into the TV industry. You’re placed directly inside major studios, production companies, or networks, where you get a close look at how shows are actually developed and produced. If you're interested in writing, the Development and Scriptwriting tracks put you in rooms where ideas are shaped, scripts are read and revised, and pitches are built. You work under the guidance of professionals who treat you like a contributor, not an observer.
Location: The New York Times, New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship
Dates: 10 weeks during the summer
Application Deadline: November 3
Eligibility: Open to current undergraduate and graduate students
The New York Times runs a competitive summer internship program that places students in technology, advertising, marketing, product and design, and data. These aren’t newsroom roles, but you’re still working inside one of the most influential media organizations in the world. You will sit in on sessions with editors and executives, learn how big investigations are supported, and see how different departments help shape the journalism the Times is known for. If you land in marketing, you get a front-row look at how copy is written and campaigns are built for a global media brand. In product or design, you see how stories are translated into digital experiences. In data or tech, you support teams that keep the Times’ reporting functioning at scale.
Location: Multiple locations throughout the U.S.
Cost: No cost; this is a paid internship.
Dates: 3-month, full-time program during the summer (June to August). Academic-year internships are also available.
Application Deadline: December 5
Eligibility: Must be pursuing an associate, bachelor's, or graduate degree at an accredited institution and be a sophomore or above
This writing internship is one of the top opportunities to get a real glimpse into a career in media and entertainment. The program is designed to be a deeply immersive, hands-on experience, placing you in specific departments across the company's vast portfolio, which includes news, film, television, and streaming. Writing-focused roles can be found in areas like journalism, public relations, corporate communications, and content marketing. You will be given responsibilities contributing to projects while engaging with networking opportunities, professional development panels, and mentorship from industry leaders.
Location: Hybrid (New York, NY or Washington, D.C.) and remote options
Cost/Stipend: No cost; a stipend is provided
Dates: Sessions are available in Fall, Spring, and Summer
Application Deadline: Varies by position
Eligibility: Open to current undergraduate students
The ACLU's Communications and Creative internships put you right at the center of how advocacy gets shaped and shared with the public. You will work on media outreach, drafting content, helping with social campaigns, and writing pieces that support the organization's legal and policy work. It is the kind of role where you learn how messaging is built, how stories move people, and how communications teams undergo big civil rights battles.
Location: Primarily in Los Angeles, CA, and New York, NY
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship (approx. $20/hour)
Dates: 10-week, full-time program during the summer
Application Deadline: Applications are typically posted in the fall and early winter
Eligibility: Must be a rising junior, senior, or graduate student
Paramount’s internship program gives you a close look at how a major entertainment company runs its day-to-day work. You’re placed in a specific division, so your experience is shaped by the path you choose. In communications or publicity, you might draft press releases, build media lists, or help coordinate interviews and events. In development, you could spend your days reading scripts, writing coverage, and sitting in on conversations about what makes a story worth producing.
Location: Multiple locations
Cost/Stipend: No cost; many internships offer a stipend
Dates: Varying by location
Application Deadline: Each museum and research center has its own deadlines for its internships
Eligibility: Open to undergraduate and graduate students
The Smithsonian’s internship program opens doors into almost every corner of its museums and research centers, and you can shape the experience around the kind of writing or communication work you want to do. If you work at the National Museum of American History, you might draft blog posts tied to new exhibitions, help build digital content, or support teams as they shape narratives for the public. Other placements offer similar chances to work with curators, editors, and researchers who know their subjects inside out.
Location: Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship
Dates: 12-week sessions (approx. 14 hours/week) in Fall, Spring, and Summer
Application Deadline: Spring (November 5), Summer (April 30), Fall (June 15)
Eligibility: Open to current college students
Candlewick Press gives you a close look at how children’s books move from idea to finished story. As an editorial intern, you will read and evaluate manuscripts, write reader reports, and sit in on the early decision-making that shapes a book’s direction. You also get a feel for how editors talk with authors, how revisions are handled, and how a project moves through marketing and production. It’s part-time and designed to be approachable, but you still get real work and real insight into a corner of publishing that’s usually hard to access.
Location: Ogilvy, New York, NY (and other major offices)
Cost/Stipend: No cost; this is a paid internship
Dates: 10-week program during the summer
Application Deadline: Applications are typically open in the winter for the following summer
Eligibility: Current college juniors and seniors, recent graduates, or individuals without formal education (18+ years old, U.S. work authorization required)
Ogilvy’s summer internship drops you straight into the pace of a major global agency. You work inside teams handling real client campaigns, whether that’s advertising, brand strategy, content, or public relations. You will see how copywriters shape a message, how strategists frame a story, and how creative directors pull ideas into something a client can use. You may help draft copy, research audiences, brainstorm concepts, and watch ideas move from rough notes to polished campaigns.
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 Ph.D. 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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