15 Best Psychology Internships for Undergraduates

Internships are a great option for college students looking to bridge the gap between classroom learning and industry. They offer a way to build professional skills and gain industry exposure. You get the chance to form connections with experts in your field, which can give you valuable references for future jobs or graduate school applications. Internships add useful skills to your resume before graduation. If commuting or relocating isn't an option, online internships are highly accessible.

Why should I do a psychology internship in college?

Doing a psychology internship in college is one of the most effective ways to grow both personally and professionally. Psychology internships help you build skills such as observing behavior, administering assessments, collecting and analyzing data, and communicating with clients or research teams. They give you industry exposure, meaning you see how psychology is applied in settings like clinics, research labs, schools, hospitals, or community organizations. This kind of exposure helps you decide what area of psychology you want to pursue.

We've carefully narrowed down our list of the 15 best psychology internships for undergraduates to ensure you get a valuable experience. To do this, we evaluated the prestige of each organization, and we looked closely at the rigor of professional experience. Let’s get started!

1. Ladder University Internship Program

Location: Remote
Cost/Stipend: Cost varies depending on the program type; financial aid is available / No stipend
Acceptance rate/cohort size: 10–25%; 70–100 students per session
Dates: Multiple cohorts throughout the year, including Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring
Application Deadline: Varies according to the cohort; Spring (January), Summer (May), Fall (September), and Winter (November); apply now!
Eligibility: Undergraduate and gap year students who can work for 5-10 hours/week for 8-12 weeks 

The Ladder University Internship Program is a virtual internship opportunity for college students and young professionals. Founded by Harvard alumni, the program places you with startups and nonprofit organizations worldwide. It matches you with a startup manager and a project based on your interests. Alongside that, you get a Ladder Coach who helps you track your progress and gives regular feedback. If you join a medical-related startup, you might help with research, health education tools, or digital health operations. You’ll also join weekly group sessions with other interns.  

2. Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship

Location: Yale University, New Haven
Stipend: Up to $4,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective (well below 10%); approximately 15–20 
Dates: June 1 – July 24
Application Deadline: January 31
Eligibility: U.S. and international undergraduates entering their junior or senior year

The Undergraduate Developmental Science Summer Internship at the Yale Child Study Center is an 8‑week, research-focused program designed for rising juniors and seniors in U.S. undergraduate programs. It allows you to work full-time alongside Yale faculty and research mentors on projects in child development, neuroscience, clinical science, and social-emotional learning. During the internship, you’ll participate in research activities such as data collection, lab experiments, and clinical observations, while also attending seminars, journal clubs, and professional development sessions. At the end of the program, you present your work in a conference-style poster session, gaining hands-on experience in scientific research, critical thinking, and professional communication.

3. McLean Mental Health Research Summer Program (MMHRSP) at Harvard Medical School

Location: Belmont, MA (McLean Hospital)
Stipend: $8,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective; 10–15 undergraduate students
Dates: June 1 – August 8
Application Deadline: February 13
Eligibility: Students enrolled in a 2- or 4-year college; Massachusetts resident or attending college in MA; at least a sophomore by the fall

The McLean Mental Health Research Summer Program immerses you in the fields of neuroscience, clinical psychology, and psychiatry. Over 10 weeks, you will conduct mentored basic science or clinical research in a laboratory, attend professional development workshops, and participate in community engagement and STEM outreach activities. A unique feature of this program is its commitment to providing access to Harvard Medical School’s primary psychiatric teaching hospital, specifically for students with little to no prior research experience. During the internship, you will learn essential technical skills such as sectioning tissue, using microscopy, and analyzing data with statistical software.

4. APA Summer Undergraduate Psychology Experience in Research (SUPER) Fellowships

Location: On-site at any accredited U.S. or Canadian institution with a chosen faculty host
Stipend: $4,000 for the student (plus $1,000 for the faculty host)
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive (<10%); up to 25 students nationally
Dates: 9 weeks during the summer (specific dates set by student and host)
Application Deadline: March 1
Eligibility: Undergraduate student enrolled at an accredited U.S. or Canadian institution, having at least one semester remaining in their program

The APA SUPER Fellowship engages you in broad psychological science topics, including behavioral, clinical, and cognitive research. During the nine-week program, you will design a project, conduct weekly laboratory work, attend virtual career development webinars, and deliver a final research presentation. The program offers extreme flexibility, allowing you to partner with any faculty host at an accredited US or Canadian institution instead of being tied to a single campus or predetermined lab. Through these activities, you will learn essential skills like research methodology, data analysis, and navigating formal IRB approvals.

5. Irvine Summer Institute in Neuroscience

Location: Remote
Stipend: $700/week
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; 20 students
Dates: June 8–19 (Remote) and June 21 – August 14 (In person)
Application Deadline: January 20
Eligibility: Undergraduate students (U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents) with a GPA of 3.0 who will have completed one year of undergraduate studies by June

Over the 10-week summer, you are placed in active laboratories at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (CNLM), where you gain hands-on experience in experimental design, data collection, and analysis using state-of-the-art techniques in neuroscience. The program emphasizes professional development, including weekly seminars, journal clubs, and workshops on topics like scientific writing, presentation skills, and graduate school preparation. You are paired with a mentor, often a graduate student or postdoc, who guides your day-to-day research and helps you navigate challenges in the lab. By the end of the program, you present your findings in a poster or oral presentation.

6. UPenn MindCORE Summer Fellowship Program

Location: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Stipend: Paid
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive (est. 3%–5%); 15–25 undergraduates
Dates: May 31 – August 7
Application Deadline: January 11 
Eligibility: Freshmen to juniors; non-Penn applicants must be U.S. citizens/permanent residents

This fellowship begins with a week of training where you learn about experimental design, research ethics, and basic coding skills in tools like R or Python. After this introduction, you spend the remaining weeks working in a MindCORE laboratory, contributing to ongoing projects in fields such as neuroscience, psychology, linguistics, or computer science. During the program, you help design and run experiments, gather and analyze data, and take part in lab meetings with faculty and graduate researchers. The fellowship also offers journal discussions, skill-building workshops, lab tours, and sessions focused on academic and career development, ending with a symposium where you present your research.

7. University of North Carolina Karen M. Gil Internship Program in Psychology

Location: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC (Triangle area placements)
Stipend: Paid, amount not publicly disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; 10–13 students per semester 
Dates: Semester-long (Fall or Spring)
Application Deadline: Varies by cohort; Fall: March 25; Spring: Mid-October
Eligibility: UNC undergraduate Psychology and Neuroscience majors in their junior or senior years; must have completed PSYC 101 and two additional PSYC or NSCI courses, or just an AP PSYC 101 course

Karen M. Gil Internships at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will allow you to combine classroom learning with real-world experience during the semester. You will work at a selected internship site in the Chapel Hill or Research Triangle area while receiving course credit. Alongside your placement, you will take part in weekly seminars that build professional skills and explore areas like clinical, cognitive, developmental, and applied psychology. By the end of the term, you will prepare and present a poster highlighting what you learned. Internship placements can include university labs, mental health centers, and nonprofit organizations, giving you practical exposure in different settings.

8. Rutgers RISE Program

Location: Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Stipend: $6,000–$7,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive (<10%); 50 students
Dates: 10 weeks in the summer (June–August)
Application Deadline: February 15
Eligibility: Undergraduate sophomores, juniors, or non-graduating seniors; GPA of 3.0 or more

The RISE Internships at Rutgers University are full-time, 10-week summer research programs for undergraduates who plan to pursue a PhD. During the program, you will complete an independent research project under the guidance of a Rutgers faculty mentor in psychology, neuroscience, or a related social science field. Alongside your research, you will take part in graduate school preparation workshops, GRE support sessions, communication training, and career exploration activities such as site visits and networking events. The program also includes wellness programming, social activities, and support from resident advisors. At the end of the summer, you will present your research at a final symposium.

9. Harvard Business School PRIMO

Location: Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
Stipend: $3,500
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective (est. well below 10%); 15–20 students
Dates: June 5 – August 7
Application Deadline: February 2
Eligibility: Rising sophomores, juniors, or seniors in the U.S.-based colleges 

The PRIMO (Program for Research in Markets and Organizations) is a 10-week summer research internship at Harvard Business School. In this program, you will work with faculty members and doctoral students on research topics such as entrepreneurship, market design, corporate responsibility, and organizational behavior. Based on your interests, you are matched with a research project and spend the summer living on campus alongside students participating in other Harvard programs. Throughout the internship, you will attend faculty talks, professional development sessions, and cohort meetings that support your learning and research experience. By the end of the program, you will have prepared a research abstract and presented your work at a final symposium.

10. Cornell University Developmental Moral Psychology Lab Summer Internship

Location: Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Stipend: $1,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective (est. <10%); around 2–6 undergraduate interns
Dates: June 2 – July 12 
Application Deadline: January 17
Eligibility: Undergraduates enrolled in U.S. institutions; U.S. citizens, green card holders, or student visa holders; have experience with children

This summer internship allows you to take part in hands-on research focused on how children develop moral reasoning. You will collaborate with graduate students and postdocs to design studies, collect data, code participant responses, and analyze results. Along the way, you develop your own independent research project and present your findings at the conclusion of the program. Regular lab meetings and reading discussions help strengthen your understanding of experimental psychology, while close mentorship from the lab team supports your academic and research growth.

11. MIT– CBMM Undergraduate Summer Neuroscience Research Internship

Location: MIT Cambridge, MA
Stipend: Paid weekly, amount not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive (<10%); Small cohort (integrated into the broader ~40-student MSRP-Bio group)
Dates: May 26 – August 2
Application Deadline: January 30
Eligibility: Full-time undergraduates at a U.S. institution (sophomores, juniors, or non-graduating seniors) with a 3.5+ science GPA and prior research experience; international students are only eligible if currently studying at a U.S. college on an F-1 visa.

The Undergraduate Summer Neuroscience Research Internship at the MIT Center for Brains, Minds and Machines is a 10-week program where you explore topics in cognitive and computational neuroscience under the guidance of a faculty mentor. Hosted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the internship allows you to contribute to research by helping design experiments, analyze data, and use or write code for research projects. You will also participate in lab meetings and seminars alongside graduate students and researchers. Throughout the program, you will attend weekly sessions focused on programming skills, research ethics, and graduate school preparation.

12. The University of Maryland (UMD) BSOS Summer Research Initiative (SRI)

Location: College Park, MD
Stipend: $4,000
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective (<10%); ~10–15 students
Dates: June 1 – July 24
Application Deadline: February 10
Eligibility: Current sophomores, juniors, or seniors; must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident; minimum 3.0 GPA

During the eight-week program, you will work one-on-one with a faculty mentor to develop a research project and attend professional development workshops on graduate school preparation. A unique feature of this program is its goal of increasing the number of underrepresented students in the social sciences, providing a supportive environment for those aiming for doctoral degrees. You will learn and apply technical skills such as advanced literature review techniques, data analysis using specialized software, and professional scientific communication. Ultimately, the program concludes with you formally presenting your research findings at a campus-wide symposium.

13. NYU Center for Neural Science Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP)

Location: New York, NY (Washington Square)
Stipend: Paid, amount not disclosed
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly selective (<10%); ~10-15 students
Dates: May 26 – August 1
Application Deadline: March 1
Eligibility: U.S. citizens or permanent residents; current sophomores or juniors with at least one neuroscience course

The NYU Center for Neural Science SURP covers topics such as sensory systems, memory, and computational neuroscience. Over the 10-week program, you will participate in laboratory experiments, attend weekly seminars hosted by faculty, and perform advanced data analysis for original research. A unique feature of this program is its focus on integrating undergraduates into the full lifecycle of a project, from initial experimental design to final dissemination. Ultimately, the summer concludes with you presenting your findings in a professional, journal-style report and a 20-minute oral presentation at a dedicated research conference.

14. Undergraduate Summer Internship offered by the Counseling Center at Pace University

Location: Pace University’s New York City campus
Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive; 4 students
Dates: May 20 – July 24
Application Deadline: January 
Eligibility: Rising undergraduate seniors enrolled in an undergraduate program in psychology or a related field

The Undergraduate Psychology Summer Internship at Pace University gives you a structured, part-time clinical training as a rising senior interested in mental health. You will work at the NYC campus counseling center, where you will gain exposure to how clinical psychology operates in a university setting. You will attend weekly seminars on clinical interviewing, therapeutic techniques, and diagnostic categories, conduct mock intake interviews, contribute to data projects, and complete an individual research-based presentation. You will also participate in outreach and consultation efforts across campus, helping you understand how counseling services support student wellbeing.

15. Johns Hopkins University Laboratory for Child Development Summer Internship

Location: Baltimore, Maryland (JHU Campus and the Maryland Science Center)
Stipend: None
Acceptance rate/cohort size: Highly competitive (well below 10%); 3–7 interns
Dates: June – July
Application Deadline: March 1
Eligibility: Current undergraduate students (including graduating seniors) who have prior experience working with children

The Johns Hopkins Laboratory for Child Development internship engages you in cognitive development research, exploring topics like memory, numerical abilities, logical reasoning, and language acquisition. During the program, you will recruit participants, test infants and young children in behavioral tasks, and analyze experimental data. The internship provides the opportunity to conduct hands-on research directly with families, sometimes at the lab's public testing site inside the Maryland Science Center. You will also participate in weekly lab meetings and guided developmental literature readings with your mentors.

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