Sara Miller McCune Endowed Internship and Public Service Program

2025-2026 applications will be available in April 2025.

The Sara Miller McCune Endowed Internship and Public Service Program is a year-long service-learning program that integrates academic study with a paid internship in a local nonprofit organization. We place civic-minded UC Santa Barbara undergraduate students who have an interest in public service in a local Santa Barbara nonprofit, where they contribute substantively to the missions of the nonprofit organizations while also exploring their own interests and passions and gaining valuable professional experienced.

Students who are selected to serve as interns receive stipends totaling $2,000 and eight (8) units of course credit during their Junior or Senior year. They spend the fall quarter in a preparatory seminar, for which they receive four (4) units of academic credit. The course, entitled “Seminar in Social Ethics” (RGST 156CC), involves assigned readings and class presentations by leaders of local nonprofits or non-governmental organizations. The course helps to prepare students for their internships and provides them with training to pursue a career in the nonprofit sector. During the winter and spring quarters, students serve as paid interns for a total of 200 hours (10 hours per week) in a local nonprofit organization under the supervision of a staff mentor, and also attend two meetings with the internship program coordinator. Participating students are paid half of their stipend ($1,000) for fulfilling their fall/winter requirements and the other half ($1,000) for completing the requirements for the spring quarter. In the spring quarter, in addition to their internships, students enroll in an Independent Studies course for which they receive four (4) units of academic credit. In this course, students prepare a paper integrating what they have learned through their studies and internship experiences. Finally, at the end of the academic year, each cohort of students participates in an end-of-year certificate ceremony.