NASA is looking to increase the number of students with disabilities pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers through our regular internship programs. This is not a program for students with disabilities.  We are trying to recruit more students with disabilities into our regular internship programs. Disability means both physical and mental disabilities. NASA has a two-percent hiring goal for employment of people with disabilities and internships are a good way to get experience. However, this is not an employment program. NASA jobs can be found at <http://www.usajobs.gov>. Students can apply for Summer 2017 internships on or about November 10, 2016. The deadline for submitting applications will be on or about March 1, 2017. We will begin extending offers to students in mid-to-late January and will continue until all positions are filled. If you would like to subscribe to an announcement-only list about NASA internships for persons with disabilities, please send an E-mail to nasainterns-request@freelists.org with ‘subscribe’ in the Subject field, OR by visiting the list page at http://www.freelists.org/list/nasainterns.

We encourage you to apply early because the best opportunities are likely to be filled early. Plus, your likelihood of being selected decreases the longer you wait. Don’t be surprised if you don’t see many internship opportunities in November.  They start to appear in numbers in mid-to-late December. You can register for an account anytime at the One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI): NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships (NIFS) at http://intern.nasa.gov/. All material that you wish to have considered must be uploaded to the OSSI website. No documentation will be accepted that is E-mailed or snail mailed.

Summer 2017 internships run from early June through early August for undergraduate and graduate students. Internships run from late June through early August for high school students. All student interns get paid. The high school stipend for Summer 2016 was $2,100.00 for a six-week internship. The Summer 2016 undergraduate stipend for a ten-week internship was $6,000.00. The Summer 2016 graduate stipend for a ten-week internship was $7,500.00. As an intern, you are responsible for your own housing. NASA internships for college and high school students are also offered during Spring, Fall and Year Long Sessions through the OSSI website.

NASA has internships for high school students and for rising freshmen through doctoral students in STEM fields. A rising freshman is a high school student who has been accepted to an accredited institution of higher learning, i.e., a college or university, at the time of the internship.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens, with a minimum GPA of 3.0 for college and 3.0 for high school; however, applicants must understand that the competition for internships is keen. High school students must be at least sixteen years old at the time the internship begins.

Internships are available at all NASA centers nationwide. It is important to remember that applying is a two-step process. The first step is to fill out everything in OSSI.  The second step is to select and apply to specific internship opportunities. Students can submit a completed application whether they apply to an opportunity or not. However, applying to opportunities has the advantage of allowing applicants to be considered by mentors who work in disciplines of interest and at a particular center. Applicants may apply to as many as fifteen opportunities.

For example, an opportunity having to do with the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) will be at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland because SDO is located there. Not applying to an opportunity means that prospective interns will be hoping that a mentor happens to read their applications rather than directing their applications to mentors in fields and at centers of interest.

Students who are selected for Summer internships will receive an offer letter by E-mail sometime after mid-January 2017. They will then have five calendar days to either accept or reject the offer through their OSSI: NIFS account. The offer will automatically expire after five calendar days if no action is taken.