An internship learning agreement is a signed document between you, your host employer, and your university that spells out what you will do on the job, what you should learn from it, and how each party will meet its obligations. Every school designs its own version, but the structure is consistent: administrative details at the top, learning objectives in the middle, supervision and evaluation terms, and a signature block for all three parties. The reason to take it seriously is practical. Most universities will not register you for internship credit, release financial aid tied to the course, or count your hours toward graduation until the agreement is approved, and work performed before approval generally does not count.
Where To Get the Form
Start with your school’s career services office or internship coordinator. Most universities post a downloadable PDF or run an online submission portal through the registrar’s site or a platform like Handshake. Some departments use their own version tailored to accreditation requirements in fields like nursing, engineering, or education, so check with your academic department before grabbing a generic form from the main career center. If the document is not visible online, email your internship coordinator. The form sometimes sits behind a login wall or only appears in the student portal after you register for a specific course.
Filling Out the Administrative Section
The top of the form gathers identifying information for the student and the employer. You will typically need your student ID number, the course code for the internship credit, your major, and your expected graduation date. On the employer side, the form asks for the organization’s name, mailing address, the site supervisor’s name and title, and a phone number and email where the university can reach that supervisor.
Get the organization name right. Use whatever appears on the company’s website or official correspondence, not a casual abbreviation. Some universities tie the employer name to workers’ compensation coverage or liability insurance for the placement, so a mismatch between the ILA and the employer’s actual legal name can create problems later.
Dates and Hours
Every ILA requires a start date and end date. These dates usually need to fall within the boundaries of the academic term so the registrar can attach the internship to a specific semester. Hour requirements vary. A common range for a three-credit internship is 120 to 150 total hours across the term. Some schools set the bar at 50 hours per credit hour, which works out to 150 hours for three credits.1Indiana University South Bend. Guidelines and Requirements to Gain Course Credit Others use a sliding scale; one program, for example, requires 50 site hours for one credit and 120 for three credits.2University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Academic Credit for Internships Check your own program’s policy before filling in the total-hours field. Falling short is one of the easiest ways to lose credit at the end of the term.
Writing Learning Objectives
This is where most students get stuck, and it is the section most likely to be sent back for revisions. The learning objectives describe what you expect to learn, not just what tasks you will perform. Your university uses this section to decide whether the placement offers enough academic substance to justify course credit rather than being routine work that any entry-level hire could do.3Augsburg University. Guidelines for Writing an Internship Learning Agreement Plan
The most effective objectives follow the SMART format: specific, measurable, action-oriented, relevant to your major, and tied to a timeline. A weak objective reads like “learn about marketing.” A stronger version reads like “by the midpoint of the internship, draft and publish two social media campaigns using the company’s analytics dashboard and present engagement results to the team.” Two or three well-written objectives beat six vague ones. Avoid verbs like “understand” or “learn about” because they cannot be measured. Use verbs like “create,” “analyze,” “present,” or “troubleshoot.”
Your site supervisor and your faculty sponsor both need to agree that the objectives are realistic given the role. Draft them, then run them past your supervisor before entering them on the form. If the supervisor says that is not something you would actually do there, you have saved yourself a revision cycle. The objectives also become your performance roadmap. At the end of the term, the employer evaluation will measure you against what you wrote here.
Work Assignments and Job Description
Separate from the learning objectives, most ILAs include a section for a narrative job description or a list of daily responsibilities. This is where you describe the actual tasks: attending client meetings, coding features, assisting with patient intake, drafting reports. The distinction matters. Learning objectives are about outcomes and skill development; the job description is about what you will physically spend your time doing. A good ILA shows how the daily tasks feed the learning objectives. If you find yourself listing only filing, data entry, or coffee runs, that is a signal the placement may not qualify for academic credit.4Penn State Greater Allegheny. Internship Legal Learning Agreement
Supervision and Evaluation Terms
The ILA requires the employer to name a site supervisor and describe how that person will provide mentorship and feedback throughout the term. Most forms ask for the frequency of check-in meetings and the method of feedback: weekly one-on-ones, written performance notes, or project debriefs. If your internship is remote, nail this down with specifics. Will check-ins happen by video call? How will you log your hours? Who reviews your work product?
The evaluation section defines how the employer will assess your performance at the end of the placement. Many programs provide a standardized rubric the supervisor fills out, and the employer’s assessment then counts toward a portion of your final grade. The weight varies by program, anywhere from a quarter to nearly half of the course grade. Confirm the percentage with your faculty sponsor before the term starts so both you and your supervisor know the stakes.
Getting Signatures and Submitting the Form
Once every section is complete, the ILA moves through a chain of signatures. The typical sequence is: you sign first, then the site supervisor at the host organization, then a faculty sponsor or academic advisor, and finally a department chair, dean, or internship coordinator who gives final approval.5Eastern Connecticut State University. Approval/Permission to Register for Internship/Practicum Some schools add more layers; international students may need the designated school official to sign as well.6Saint Elizabeth University. Internship Approval Form No signatures can be skipped. A form missing any required endorsement will not be processed.
Submission methods depend on the school. Many institutions use an online portal or learning management system where you upload the completed PDF. Others accept forms by encrypted email or require a physical copy hand-delivered to the registrar’s office. Ask your internship coordinator which method your program uses and whether original wet signatures are required or electronic signatures are accepted.
After submission, expect a processing window while the school verifies that every field is complete, the learning objectives meet academic standards, and all signatures are present. Watch your university email for either an approval confirmation or a request for revisions. Common reasons forms get sent back: vague learning objectives, missing supervisor contact information, hours that do not meet the credit-hour minimum, and signatures that are out of order or missing entirely.
What Happens After Approval
Once the registrar approves the ILA, you are officially enrolled in the internship course for that term. That enrollment is what allows the internship to appear on your transcript and the hours to count toward graduation. Work performed before the ILA is formally approved generally does not count toward your required hours, so do not assume you can start early and sort out the paperwork later. Check your student portal to confirm the course appears on your schedule and that your enrollment status is active.
Keep a copy of the signed, approved ILA for your own records. You may need it later if there is a dispute about hours, if you apply for a second internship that requires documentation of prior placements, or if an employer asks for proof that the internship was academically sanctioned.
Extra Steps for Unpaid Internships
If your internship is unpaid at a for-profit company, the ILA takes on added legal weight. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, an unpaid intern must be the “primary beneficiary” of the arrangement, meaning the experience is more educational for you than it is productive for the employer. Courts evaluate this using a flexible seven-factor test, and no single factor is decisive.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act The factors look at whether:
- You and the employer clearly understand the internship is unpaid.
- The training resembles what you would receive in a classroom or clinical setting.
- The internship is tied to your formal education through coursework or academic credit.
- The schedule accommodates your school commitments.
- The internship lasts only as long as it provides beneficial learning.
- Your work complements rather than replaces what paid employees do.
- Both sides understand the internship does not guarantee a paid position afterward.
A carefully drafted ILA directly addresses most of these factors. The learning objectives show the placement is educational. The start and end dates show the duration is limited. The academic credit and course code show the tie to formal education. If you are entering an unpaid placement, make sure your ILA language supports these points. It is the single best piece of evidence that the arrangement is legitimate if a question ever arises.
Extra Steps for F-1 Students
If you hold an F-1 visa, you cannot simply sign an ILA and start working. You need Curricular Practical Training authorization before your first day on the job. Under federal regulations, CPT must be an integral part of your established curriculum, meaning the internship is either required by your degree program or tied to an elective course that counts toward your degree.8eCFR. 8 CFR 214.2 – Special Requirements for Admission, Extension, and Maintenance of Status Your designated school official must endorse your Form I-20 for CPT before you can begin, and the authorization cannot be granted retroactively.
Pay close attention to whether you request part-time (20 hours or fewer per week) or full-time CPT. During fall and spring semesters, most schools limit F-1 students to part-time CPT. Full-time CPT is typically available only during the summer if you are continuing studies in the fall.9Columbia University International Students & Scholars Office. F-1 CPT (Curricular Practical Training) The stakes are high. Accumulating 12 months or more of full-time CPT makes you ineligible for Optional Practical Training after graduation.10U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Practical Training Part-time CPT does not count against your OPT eligibility, so track your hours carefully.
Submit your CPT application to your international student office well in advance. Some schools require at least 10 business days of lead time before your requested start date. Your ILA, the employer’s offer letter, and proof of course enrollment are typically all required as part of the CPT packet.