CSIS Internships 2027 - Paid Policy Research in DC

Paid internships at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan nonprofit policy research organisation founded in 1962 and based in Washington, DC. Interns support research, writing and project development inside individual CSIS programs, and take part in programming run by the Abshire-Inamori Leadership Academy, the in-house leadership development arm. CSIS runs full-time and part-time internships in the fall, spring and summer for undergraduates, graduate students and recent graduates.

Yes. Interns receive an hourly wage, and recent postings publish the scale: $18.40 an hour for current undergraduate hires, $19.40 for hires with a bachelor's degree and $20.40 for hires with a master's degree. Foreign nationals must hold US employment authorisation and supporting documents to receive internship payments. Housing is not part of the package, so weigh the hourly rate against DC rent before you commit to a term.

There usually is not one in the way applicants expect. CSIS states that unless a job description says otherwise, positions stay open until the hiring manager has started reviewing applications or has filled the role. What CSIS does publish is when roles appear: February for the summer term, July for the fall term and October for the spring term. Some individual postings do name a date of their own while also saying review continues until the post is filled, so read the How To Apply section on the role itself and apply early.

CSIS says US citizenship is not a qualification it uses in hiring, and that all are welcome to apply. The hard requirement is US work authorisation, and CSIS does not sponsor visas for interns. In practice that means an international student already holding valid work authorisation can be considered, while someone who would need CSIS to sponsor a visa cannot. Check your own status with your designated school official before you spend time on an application.

The general rule CSIS publishes is that you are eligible once you have completed two years of undergraduate credits. Individual programs often ask for more. Recent postings have required at least junior standing, at least senior standing, or current graduate enrolment, and one asked for a bachelor's already in hand. Treat the two-year rule as the floor and the posting as the real test.

No. CSIS states plainly that it does not offer housing, and points interns towards Washington Intern Student Housing, which provides furnished apartments for interns working in the District. Since intern roles are worked on site at CSIS headquarters on Rhode Island Avenue NW, housing is the cost you need to plan around, and it is the main reason to treat the hourly pay as a budget line rather than a windfall.

It depends on the program. Full-time intern roles commonly ask for 35 hours a week, and several postings state that only in extraordinary circumstances will part-time interns be considered. Other programs advertise part-time positions outright, including one recent role set at 20 hours a week over a September to mid-December term. The posting always names the number.

Read the job description first, because CSIS says each position requires different documents. The common set is a resume, a cover letter addressed to "To Whom It May Concern", a writing sample capped at a few pages, an academic transcript and contact details for three references. Unofficial transcripts are accepted. Uploads go on the second page of the application form, which offers four document boxes, though some postings ask for everything merged into a single PDF under the Resume field.