Finance Internships

If you need help finding an internship please email cobinternships@mnsu.edu or schedule an appointment by calling 507-389-2963.

Internship Qualifications:

1. 135 hours of work is equivalent to three credit hours of internship.

2. The job duties in the position must primarily be finance or finance-related (80% or more).

3. The person you report to, or your company mentor, should be in a finance or finance-related field.

Unsure If Your Internship Qualifies?  Email the job description to cobinternships@mnsu.edu.

INTERN COMPLETES

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. DARS Report

Access your DARS. Copy and paste this document into Word before attaching to your application.

INTERN GATHERS FROM EMPLOYER

3. Job Description (From Employer)

This document lists your duties and the projects you'll 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'll work each week.

IF REGISTERING FOR CO-OP STATUS, INTERN COMPLETES

5. Co-Op Eligibility Process Form & Agreement

Complete Co-Op Eligibility Process Form and Agreement - Only required if pursuing co-op status.

[PDF] Click here to learn more about what Co-Op entails. (119 KiB)

Please schedule an appointment by calling 507-389-2963 or email cobinternships@mnsu.edu if you have additional questions about Co-Op status.

Steps for Completing the Co-Op Eligibility Process Form and Agreement

1. Student needs to print, sign name, and list techID and date
2. List the start and end date for your internship and the academic term
3. List the company name and your position
4. Company supervisor needs to sign and date
5. Department chair signs as both department chair and instructor
6. Once all of these signatures have been provided. please upload this document to your online profile (Click “Add Attachment” at the bottom of the application to upload) - You do not need the registrar's signiture to upload this document to your online profile

7. Bring or send this document to Joshua Woldt in the Registration & Academic Records office.

The Registrar's office will keep this document and will make sure you have permission to register for the co-op course.

Obtaining Permission to Register 

1. Log in to your COB internship account. Request access by emailing COBinternships@mnsu.edu.
2. Click “Experiential Learning” from the menu on the left side of the page.
3. Click the purple “Add New” button.
4. Complete all required fields.
5. Click “Add Attachment” at the bottom of the application to upload the required documents.
6. Choose “Save as Draft” if you wish to come back and make changes to the application before submitting it.
7. Click “Submit” once your application is complete.
8. Email your Department Chair to notify them that you submitted your application.

Important Note: If you haven’t received confirmation of your application within one week of submitting your application, please reach out to your Department Chair.

APPLY NOW

Register

Once you have gotten permission from your Department Chair, register for the course in eServices.

FINA 498 (Up to 3 credits) — Finance Internship Credit
Satisfies one of the elective courses required by a Finance major or minor. You will have to pay for these credits like any other class.

FINA 497 (Up to 9 credits) — Additional Internship Credits
Allows students to earn additional credits that will count towards their overall credit total, but do not count towards their major or other required goal areas. You still have to pay for these credits like any other class.

FINA 398 — FINA Co-Op Status
Zero credit full-time student status. [PDF] Click here to learn more about what Co-Op entails. (119 KiB)

If you have questions about which course to register for please email cobinternships@mnsu.edu

Completion of Internship 

Before your internship ends and you are able to receive a passing grade, you must complete the following. 

1. Stangler Internship Initiative Modules

• Complete the Stangler Internship Initiative modules on D2L.
• It is highly encouraged to complete them before your internship starts to be prepared for the professional workplace from day one!
• You must complete the 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 go out 3 weeks before the end of the semester and must be completed before the end of your internship.
• 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, email cobinternships@mnsu.edu. Please suggest to your supervisor to check their spam folders.

3. Final Self Evaluation, Program Evaluation, and Semester Report Surveys

• You can access these surveys as early as 3 weeks before the end of the semester and must be completed before the semester ends, regardless of when your specific internship ends.
• The surveys can be accessed from the “Experiential Learning” homepage of your account.
• You must complete all of the surveys before you can receive a final grade.

4. Final Written Paper

• The final paper should be 5 pages including 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 (approx. 1 page).
  • Briefly describe the major areas for which you were responsible during your internship (approx. 1 page).
  • Review the detailed list of objectives for the internship experience that you submitted with your internship application. Examine and discuss how each objective was met or not met. This review should represent around 50 percent of the paper (approx. 2 pages).
  • 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 (approx. 1 page).
  • Other comments you have to offer.
• The report should be typed, meet collegiate writing standards and be 5 pages in length. Both the content of the final report and the quality of your writing will affect your grade which will be given by your Department Chairperson.
• The final paper must be uploaded to your COB internships account before the end of the semester.
  • log in with your Star ID & password
  • click Experiential Learning on the left side menu
  • click EDIT below where your internship is listed
  • scroll all the way to the bottom and click Add Attachment
  • click Submit once it is uploaded

Important Note: All internship course requirements are due the Friday before Finals Week. If your internship continues after the semester ends and you will not be able to complete the requirements by the deadline, email cobinternships@mnsu.edu to arrange an alternate deadline. 

If you have any questions, email your Department Chair or cobinternships@mnsu.edu.