The state’s Career Accelerator program has awarded 133 New Jersey-based employers grants totaling $2.4 million to provide 574 paid summer internships to current New Jersey college students and recent graduates.
The employers who are hosting interns this summer represent a wide range of industries and sectors including STEM, construction, energy, finance, technology, media, hospitality retail trade and nonprofit organizations, the Murphy administration announced this week.
The grants support students and graduates with valuable learning opportunities that pay $20 per hour and require a student to commit to working between 150- and 200-hours total over a 10-week summer period between May and August.
The Career Accelerator Internship Grant Program, administered by the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, is designed to strengthen New Jersey’s workforce pipeline.
“Experiential learning opportunities like internships provide college students with the hands-on skills and professional contacts they need to put them on the path to successful careers,” said NJBIA Economic Policy Research Director Kyle Sullender.
“The work of NJBIA’s Postsecondary Education Task Force over the years has continually underscored the need to retain talented college students in New Jersey after graduation,” Sullender said. “The Career Accelerator helps that mission by strengthening the mutually beneficial connections between our higher education institutions, students and New Jersey businesses seeking talented interns and potential future employees.”
New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education Brian K. Bridges, Ph.D., emphasized the program’s ability to provide upward mobility for all students through equitable pathways.
“Through the Career Accelerator we are making sure students gain meaningful learning aligned with their academic pursuits and are removing financial barriers to participation for students typically under-represented in hands-on paid internships – often women, students of color and those first in their family to go to college,” Bridges said Thursday.
“Leveling the playing field in this way generates more opportunity for all students and strengthens their college payoff,” Bridges said.
This summer marks the third year in which the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education (OSHE) has administered and coordinated Career Accelerator. Supported by $2.4 million from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, OSHE has increased the number of internship opportunities for the summer 2024 cohort by 23% over last year.
For more information about the Career Accelerator program, go here. Employers interested in participating in the internship program in the summer of 2025, can submit an online form here.
