Transforming Futures
The Transforming Futures program provides scholarships that remove financial barriers for UC Santa Cruz students to participate in career-advancing summer internships with positive impact.
Internships provide hands-on learning opportunities, through which students discover how to apply the knowledge and skills they’re learning in the classroom to create change. Students gain real-world professional experience and start building professional networks.
These connections and experiences can help them develop their career path with organizations that work to build a better world. Internships set students up for success in following their passions and achieving upward economic mobility. But because many meaningful internships are unpaid, they are often not an option for students with limited financial resources. The Institute created the Transforming Futures program to expand opportunities to more UC Santa Cruz students.
How it works
Transforming Futures provides up to $8,000 in funding for full-time, off-campus summer internships that students have arranged for themselves, with support from campus advising resources and mentors. The program aims to support underserved students including first-generation and low-income students.
Awarded students will participate in a pre-internship workshop in late May to build basic skills for workplace success. During their internships, students will be enrolled in a special 10-unit asynchronous summer internship course with no tuition cost. Course activities include professional development workshops, check-in meetings with program coordinators, completing weekly assignments or field notes, and delivering a final presentation. Students are also expected to provide a short report on their experience at the end of their internship and participate in a post-internship workshop in September to share their reflections.
We strongly recommend that students do not enroll in additional summer courses or work additional summer jobs during the summer when they hope to complete a full-time Transforming Futures internship.
The Transforming Futures program is administered by the Institute for Social Transformation, with support from UC Santa Cruz’s Career Success office and Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). Scholarships are limited to UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students affiliated with the Social Sciences Division who have demonstrated financial need.
Program details
Eligibility
This program is open to all students consistent with state and federal law, the UC Nondiscrimination Statement and the Nondiscrimination Policy Statement for University of California Publications Regarding Student-Related Matters.
- Applicants must be UC Santa Cruz undergraduate students majoring or minoring in a Social Science Division academic program, or who are part of the division’s affiliated residential colleges: John R. Lewis College and College Nine.
- Students must have demonstrated financial need and be in good academic standing.
- Priority will be given to students who have EOP status or come from historically disadvantaged backgrounds including: first-generation, low income, undocumented, or students who have experienced foster care, homelessness, or incarceration
- Priority will be given to students who are rising sophomores, juniors and seniors (i.e. returning to UCSC for the academic year following their summer internship). Graduating seniors are eligible if they are on the job market (i.e. not planning on attending graduate school in the fall) and are willing to participate in a fall workshop reflecting on their internship experience.
- Students must commit to a full-time summer internship with an off-campus organization. Full-time means working 35-40 hours/week for 8-10 weeks during the summer.
- Students cannot be enrolled in other field study programs at the same time as their internship.
Advising requirements
Prospective applicants are required to first meet with at least one career coach, advisor, or internship coordinator to discuss career goals and help identify a meaningful internship opportunity. Ideally, students should meet with several advisors or coaches to establish a network of mentors.
Opportunities include:
- Meet with a UCSC Career Coach to explore internships and career options, prep for interviews, and get resume feedback
- Meet with an Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) counselor or peer advisor to develop a plan for student success.
- Meet with an advisor or internship coordinator in your department or college
- Find more information about advising opportunities from the Undergraduate Advising office.
- We also strongly encourage students to seek out a faculty mentor. A faculty mentor can be a favorite professor or someone who works in a field that a student is interested in.
Applications will be ranked higher for students who have established mentor relationships with advisors and faculty members who can help them prepare for and contextualize their internship experience.
Internship requirements
Students must arrange an internship opportunity before applying to the Transforming Futures program. After consulting with campus resources, internship coordinators, advisors, and career coaches, students should contact organizations they would like to intern for.
Internships must meet the following criteria:
- Internships should be with off-campus organizations—primarily those that are not able to provide fully paid internships, such as nonprofits, government entities, and small businesses or start-ups.
- Internships must be full-time, meaning that interns will work 35-40 hours/week for 8-10 weeks during the summer.
- The location can be anywhere in the world. However international travel is not allowed to countries with a U.S. State Department Travel Advisory of Level 3 or 4. Any students traveling internationally or out of state must register in advance for UC free travel insurance.
- Internships should be in-person or hybrid. We do not recommend fully remote internships for this program.
- Please be aware that several field study and global learning programs are not eligible for Transforming Futures scholarships. Please reach out to program staff to inquire about eligibility before applying.
If your ability to participate in an internship depends on receiving the Transforming Futures scholarship, be sure to communicate this clearly with your prospective internship site. The internship supervisor will need to submit an internship agreement form indicating their support for having the student as a full-time intern for the summer, if the scholarship is awarded.
Students will be notified in mid-May regarding their selection for a Transforming Futures scholarship. If your internship site requires confirmation before then, please contact us.
Finding an internship
Students should reach out directly to organizations they are interested in interning with. We encourage you to use this opportunity to explore something new and gain experience in a field you’re curious about.
Several of our community partners post internship opportunities in Handshake. To view them, sign in to Handshake and select the drop down menu titled “UCSC Collections.” Select the “Transforming Futures Scholarship” option and you will see the collection of internship postings. Click on each one to view the details and be sure to follow the application instructions in the job description. Please note that you need to apply directly to the organization for these opportunities and not through Handshake. In addition to the previously mentioned campus-wide advising and career coaching resources, Institute staff are also available to help students with finding internships. We work with many community organizations and would be happy to help connect students with them. Please take a look at our directory of past internship sites and list of community partners and reach out to us if there are any particular organizations you are interested in.
Other listings of internship opportunities:
Scholarship awards
Students selected for the Transforming Futures program will be eligible to receive up to $8,000 in combined scholarship and summer financial aid, with award amounts differing based on financial need. The award amount will be adjusted for any internships that offer additional stipends or other forms of compensation.
Scholarships are disbursed as a lump sum in mid to late June. The awards are processed by the Institute for Social Transformation in coordination with the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office.
In addition to the scholarship, students in the Transforming Futures program will be enrolled in a special 10-unit asynchronous summer internship course with no tuition cost, allowing them to receive summer financial aid. The scholarship award will be incorporated into the student’s summer financial aid offer, and the amount received as a payment/refund will depend on each student’s specific financial situation, including any unpaid university fees and other awards or aid they may have. For further questions, contact the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office or review their frequently asked questions.
Program timeline
Feb. 1
Applications open
May 1
Application deadline (11:59pm)
Mid-May
Award notifications
Late-May
Pre-internship preparation workshop
Late-June
Award funding disbursed
June-Sept.
8-10 week internship takes place within this window
Late-Sept.
Post-internship reflection workshop
Application information
We expect to award scholarships to up to 20 students annually. Applications are reviewed by a committee of UC Santa Cruz staff and faculty. The application package consists of the following:
- Student application form, due May 1: The application will require students to articulate how the proposed internship experience will enhance their career and professional growth.
- Resume, uploaded via the application form: Career Success has many resume resources available to help you with writing a resume. You can even meet with a career coach to work on your resume if you bring a draft of your resume to the appointment.
- Internship host agreement form, due May 8: This is submitted separately by your potential internship supervisor to indicate their support for having you as an intern, if you receive the scholarship award.
If you’re interested in applying but need help with the application process or finding an internship, fill out the optional Expression of Interest form by March 1, and we will follow up with you. Prospective applicants are also encouraged to attend an upcoming information session.
Host an intern
Are you a non-profit organization, government entity, or small businesses interested in hosting one of our passionate and hardworking student interns? Review our internship requirements information to see if you meet the criteria. Internship sites must be able to demonstrate the capacity to provide a quality learning and career-advancing experience that is well-supervised, safe, stable, inclusive, and enriching for the student.
If this sounds like you, please submit your summer internship opportunity to us by February 1. Internships should start after June 15, 2026 and end before September 15, 2026 to align with UC Santa Cruz’s summer term.
How the student recruitment process works
- Internships submitted to us will be posted in Handshake (UC Santa Cruz’s job/internship portal) to make sure they reach our network of students interested in the Transforming Futures program. We will follow up with you via email to let you know when your internship has been posted.
- Organizations will then manage their own application and selection process—we do not match students with internship sites.
- Students are responsible for applying directly to your organization and separately submitting their scholarship application to us.
- Students can only apply for our scholarship if they have an internship offer in hand. Organizations that want to recruit students from our program should therefore interview internship applicants between March and April, so that internship offers can be made well before our May 1 scholarship application deadline.
- Student applicants to our funding program will be notified of scholarship decisions in mid-May.
- If a student does not receive funding, it is their decision whether to accept or decline the internship offer with your organization.
If you have additional questions, please see our FAQ document for more information or reach out to our staff. We appreciate your partnership and look forward to sharing your opportunities with our students!
Contact us
The answers to the majority of questions about the Transforming Futures program are answered on this page. Please contact Evin Knight at the Institute for Social Transformation with any additional questions at transform@ucsc.edu.