Bachelor of Business Administration Internships
An internship can fulfill one elective for the BBA program. Internships can provide students with a rich extension of the classroom experience, help build a student's professional network, transition into a job offer, or serve as a reference for a full-time job application.
Business internships can be found at a variety of businesses, non-profits, industry, state, or federal institutions. Roles may include:
- sales
- human resources
- marketing
- supply chain
- accounting
- operations
- finance
- agribusiness
- and more
Internships may take place in the summer or during the academic year.
BBA students may enroll in any of the College of Business internship courses. You should select the course that most closely aligns with the duties of your internship position. As the program maintains a diverse pool of students, internship opportunities can range from traditional internship options for non-employees, to enhancements to one’s current job, as many BBA students are already maintaining full-time employment. These students, supported by their current employer, may embark on special projects that either provide a personal growth in skillset, aid in the company’s current needs, and/or provide a path of pivoting to a new role within the employer.
The College of Business requires that you register for the term when you are doing your internship. You cannot earn credit retroactively for an internship that is already complete.
Opportunities can be found on Handshake, other online job boards, at on-campus career events, or through personal networking. A student who has a job related to business may take on a new project or duties and use that as their internship experience. Continuation of a current job and duties will not be permitted.
If you need help finding an internship, please email cobinternships@mnsu.edu or schedule an appointment by calling 507-389-2963.
Internship Qualifications:
- 135 hours of work is equivalent to three credit hours of internship.
- The job duties in the position must primarily be related to the chosen area of business (80% or more).
- The person you report to, or your company mentor, should be in a role related to the chosen area of business.
Unsure If an Internship Qualifies? Email the job description to cobinternships@mnsu.edu.
*Use the following format for labeling ALL internship documents: LastnameFirstname_nameofdocument
1. Goals Statement
In a one-page letter briefly summarize your academic and professional background, your career goals, and your internship objectives. The internship objectives are the specific things you hope to learn, experience, and achieve by doing this internship. This letter should be written in a format similar to a standard cover letter and be addressed to the Department Chair.
2. Degree Audit Report (DARs)
Access your DARS. Save as a PDF or copy and paste the entire document into Word before uploading to your application.
3. Job Description (From Employer)
This document lists your duties and the projects you will work on during your internship.
4. Internship Offer Letter (From Employer)
Letter should be written on company letterhead and include your start date, end date, and number of hours you will work each week.
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1. Log into Handshake Experiences. If you’ve never been on Handshake, follow the instructions to get started.
2. Click on “Submit An Experience.”
3. Fill out the Submit An Experience form
- The first question asks you to select an “Experience template” - please select BBA Internship – College of Business” from the dropdown
- Once you answer all of the required questions, click “Create Experience” at the bottom.
4. Click “New Attachment” under Attachments on the left of the page to upload the required documents (see Step 2 above).
5. Email cobinternships@mnsu.edu to notify them that you submitted your application.
Once your request has been approved, register for your selected course in eServices. Internship courses run for the full 16-week term or for the full 10-week summer term.
- ACCT 497 — Accounting Internship Credit (P/NC)
- AGBZ 496 – Agribusiness & Food Innovation Internship (letter grade)
- BLAW 497 – Business Law Internship Credit (P/NC)
- FINA 498 — Finance Internship Credit (letter grade)
- IBUS 498 – International Business Internship Credit (letter grade)
- MRKT 498 — Marketing Internship Credit (letter grade)
- MRKT 496 — Professional Sales Internship Credit (letter grade)
- MGMT 498 — Human Resources Internship Credit (letter grade)
- MGMT 497 — Business Management Internship Credits (P/NC)
The following items are requirements of the internship class. You cannot receive a grade for your internship until these items are completed. The course deadline is the Friday before the end of the term.
1. Stangler Internship Initiative Modules
- Complete 4 of the Stangler Internship Initiative Modules on D2L. You may choose whichever are most relevant to you and your internship.
- It is highly encouraged to complete them before your internship starts to be prepared for the professional workplace from day one!
- You must complete four modules before you can receive a final grade.
2. Final Employer Evaluation
- Your employer will receive an email with a link to the evaluation.
- This email will be sent 3 weeks before the end of the term and must be completed before the end of the term.
- It is the student’s responsibility to remind their supervisor to complete this evaluation. If your supervisor needs a new copy of the evaluation link, emailcobinternships@mnsu.edu. Please suggest to your supervisor to check their spam folders.
3. Final Student Evaluation
- You will receive an email with a link to the evaluation.
- This email will be sent 3 weeks before the end of the term and must be completed before the end of the term.
- If you need a new copy of the evaluation link, email cobinternships@mnsu.edu.
4. Final Written Paper
- The final paper should be 5 pages, typed, and meet collegiate writing standards.
- The final paper must be uploaded to Handshake Experiences. Click “View Details” under your internship, then “New Attachment” on the left side.
- Both the content and quality of your writing will affect your grade which will be given by the Department Chairperson.
- Your paper should include the following:
- Brief description of the background of the industry and organization you were associated with during the internship. Include the short-run and long-run outlook of the organization and the possibilities of future positions for college graduates with this organization and other organizations in the same field.
- Briefly describe the major areas for which you were responsible during your internship.
- Review the detailed list of goals for the internship experience that you submitted in your Goals Statement with your internship application. Examine and discuss how each goal was met or not met. This portion should comprise around 50 percent of the paper.
- Evaluate how well the internship met your internship goals. Relate your internship to your academic training. How could your internship experience have been improved? Provide other comments that are relevant to your internship experience.
Important Notes:
- You will not receive any information for the internship course on D2L. Everything will be processed through Handshake Experiences.
- All internship course requirements are due the Friday before the term ends. If your internship continues after the term ends and you will not be able to complete the requirements by the deadline, email cobinternships@mnsu.eduto arrange an alternate deadline
- You cannot earn credit retroactively for an internship that is already complete.
If you would like additional assistance after reviewing the resources on this page, please contact the cobinternships@mnsu.edu.
