A fundamental part of the Congressional Internship Program academic curriculum is the two-week orientation designed to supplement the intern’s experience through attending and participating in the class sessions, and then completing reflective, substantive session reviews. Experts in their respective fields’ present seminars during this orientation. During the first week of the orientation, seminars concentrate on: United States Congress, the legislative process of regular order, House of Representatives parliamentary rules and procedures, budget and appropriations process, congressional committees and structure, elections, congressional-presidential relations, federal and state relations, American jurisprudence as lead by the U.S. Supreme Court and the role of a free press in a democracy.

A fundamental part of the academic curriculum is the two-week orientation designed to supplement the intern’s experience through attending and participating in the class sessions, and then completing reflective, substantive session reviews. Experts in their respective field present seminars during this orientation. During the first week of the orientation, seminars concentrate on: United States Congress, the legislative process of regular order, House of Representatives parliamentary rules and procedures, budget and appropriations process, congressional committees and structure, elections, congressional-presidential relations, federal and state relations, American jurisprudence as led by the U.S. Supreme Court and the role of a free press in a democracy. Added to the program, students participated in a budget reconciliation exercise and a focused three-part consensus building exercise as well as receive targeted lessons on communication skills in a Congressional office and policy writing.

During the orientation, the Panetta Institute provides students with guidance for the congressional office placement process. Included in the program are special one-to-one meetings that are solely dedicated to prepare interns for interviews with the congressional offices. These sessions emphasize good interviewing techniques and aim to improve student awareness of any speech or behavioral mannerisms that might detract from a successful interview. The Panetta Institute then arranges interviews with Congressional staff members and secures each student’s appointment to intern for a congressional office.

During the orientation, the Panetta Institute conducts intensive phone interview training sessions with each student to prepare them for their phone interview with a Congressional office within the California delegation in Washington, D.C. The Panetta Institute then arranges interviews with Congressional staff members and secures each student’s appointment to intern for a congressional office. Following the two-week orientation at the Panetta Institute, interns begin their two and one-half months internships for a member of the California congressional delegation on Capitol Hill.

Another unique feature of the Congressional Internship Program is the scope and quality of experts the Panetta Institute invites to teach seminars on policy issues that interns attend while working on Capitol Hill. The purpose of the D.C. seminars comes from the vision of Secretary Leon E. Panetta and CEO Sylvia M. Panetta to expand students’ understanding of the application of politics and policy by professionals who are actually working at the top levels within their fields in the nation’s capital and to further expose students to the importance of reaching consensus and compromise in order to discover possible paths of bipartisanship.

The Congressional Internship Program is uniquely designed to have an academic focus together with an experiential learning component. Students receive academic credit for each of the five component parts of the program for a total of twenty academic units (semester). Students must research and write a twenty-page comprehensive research policy paper. Students are also responsible for writing and submitting a twenty-page academic reflective journal that is a polished compendium of the student’s internship experience. Students are further graded on their internship job performance through congressional staff reviews.

Upon completion, SCU students will earn 30 upper-division units in political science:

• 10 units of which count toward the major (one section of US Politics and one elective)
• 20 units of which count as elective units toward graduation

This semester-long program begins with a rigorous two-week academic orientation at the Panetta Institute from Friday, August 7, 2026 through Friday, August 21, 2026. The focus of this training and orientation is to prepare students for their internship work in Washington, D.C. by giving them an in-depth background to understand the most important policy challenges facing our nation. The Panetta Institute invites experts at the top levels within their fields to expand students’ understanding of politics and policy.

Following the two-week academic orientation, on Friday, August 21, 2026, students will travel to Washington, D.C. for their eleven-week internships with members of the U.S. House of Representatives, both Republican and Democrat, from the California delegation where they will serve through Friday, November 6, 2026. While in Washington, D.C., students are mentored and closely supervised by Panetta Institute faculty in California as well as Panetta Institute staff in Washington, D.C. Another unique feature of the Congressional Internship Program includes weekly seminars on policy issues that the interns attend while working on Capitol Hill with nationally renowned leaders who currently practice in their specialized field. Interns will also be required to submit weekly reports summarizing their internship work as well as summaries of the lessons presented through the speaker seminars.

Upon return to California on Saturday, November 7, 2026, interns begin to work on the academic requirements of the program: a twenty-page policy paper with evidence of research and analysis and a twenty-page reflective journal, a polished compendium of the student’s intern experience. The academic program ends on Monday, December 7, 2026 with the submission of both assignments directly to the Panetta Institute for grading by the Institute’s professors. The internship ends on Friday, December 18, 2026 with the submission of final grades.

Upon completion of all requirements for this course, interns will earn a letter grade commensurate with their performance for twenty (20) full-time academic units that will be posted to their university transcripts. All program costs are covered, including housing, ground transportation, travel to and from Washington, D.C. and some reimbursement for living expenses. Any academic major may apply; the program is open to qualified students regardless of income.

• Participate in a two-week training session at the Panetta Institute, located at the CSU Monterey Bay campus on the Monterey Peninsula
• Work full-time for eleven weeks in the assigned Washington, D.C. congressional office for a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the California delegation
• Attend special seminars held exclusively for Panetta Institute interns while in Washington, D.C. and submit reports on all classes and seminars
• Timely submit weekly reports and other assignments
• Attend weekly meetings with Panetta Institute staff while in Washington, D.C.
• Submit an experiential twenty-page journal and a twenty-page research paper consistent with the syllabus provided by the Institute
• Earn letter grades commensurate with their performance for twenty (20) full-time academic credits (30 units for quarter system) upon successful completion of the internship that must be accepted by the student’s university as an integral component of the student’s academic transcript.

Provide support to congressional office staff that includes, but is not limited to:

• Answer phones
  • Take messages
  • Transfer calls
  • Conference calls
• Enter data
• Draft correspondence or other materials
• Meet and greet constituents
• Provide tours of Capitol Building
• Compile newspaper clippings
• Attend hearings and briefings, take notes and provide summaries/reports
• Conduct issue/legislative research
• Perform other work that involves the practical application of what is learned in the classroom

Education

• Matriculating student in upper-division undergraduate status (matriculating juniors or seniors during the time of the internship - and has not applied for graduation)
• High academic standing at all colleges/universities attended (includes lower division)
• Congressional Internship Program academic units must be applied to the student’s transcript

Experience

• Outstanding student leader, who is not a former Panetta Institute Congressional Internship Program participant
• Demonstrated commitment to community and public service

Skills

• Advanced written and verbal communication skills (especially clarity of speech)
• General computer proficiency, word processing and spreadsheet knowledge
• Ability to follow instructions carefully
• Flexibility to adjust with poise to changing deadlines and priorities
• Ability to provide information to the public and others as directed by supervisors
• Strong organizational skills
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize assignments
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment
• Ability to be a good team member with an attitude of doing what it takes to get the job done and doing so with a pleasant, cooperative, and professional demeanor

Other Qualities

• Exemplary conduct at the home campus university and in the community
• Positive attitude with a willingness to work (hard) on any project assigned by the congressional office
• Willingness to accept work involving the practical application of what is learned in the classroom
• Exercises maturity and sound judgment
• Willing to abide by the Panetta Institute’s Code of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreement
• Full-time commitment to the Panetta Institute’s Congressional Internship Program; no extra-curricular or outside courses allowed including, but not limited to, scheduling of LSAT, GRE, MCAT, GMAT, etc.
• Willingness to accept roommate assignments and share living quarters with other students while residing at CSU Monterey Bay and in Washington, D.C.
• State of California resident
• All students must have proof of health insurance that is compliant with the Affordable Care Act and that covers the students while residing and working in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and while in Northern California

• Must be a US citizen and California resident to be eligible.
• • The standard for establishing CA residency is high, including a permanent address in CA--not just an SCU address--for at least the last three years. In other words, if you have been a dependent of your parents for the past three years, they must be permanent CA residents. There is no flexibility in this requirement.
• Has never been sanctioned under the CA Code of Regulations, Title 5, Article 2 (Student Discipline), Section 41301
• Willing to accept and abide by the Panetta Institute's Code of Conduct and Confidentiality Agreement
• Willing to undergo a background investigation
• Must have proof of health insurance that is compliant with the Affordable Care Act and that covers the students while residing and working in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area and while in Northern California.
• Must be a matriculating junior or senior (minimum 88 units) during the time of the internship, and has not applied for graduation. 
• May not have accumulated more than 180 quarter units prior to the start of the program.

Please confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements before applying.

Please submit PDFs of the following to the Political Science Department department manager (pdoherty@scu.edu) by the end of the day, April 10, 2026:

• a resume
• a two-page essay explaining your interest in the program
• a recent, graded writing assignment with the professor's comments (minimum of 3 pages)

Note: Your Workday transcript will also be included in your application packet. Pam Doherty, Political Science Department Manager, will pull your unofficial transcript and add it to your application files.