DURP's Cooperative Internship Program (PDF File)

The FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning created the Cooperative Internship Program (CIP) to help planning  employers meet their employment needs, help planning students obtain valuable job experience and financial assistance, and assist the FSU Department of Urban and Regional Planning in recruiting top graduate students from throughout the nation.

Current and past participants in CIP include: Blueprint 2000, Collier County Planning Department, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Department of Community Affairs, Florida Department of Transportation, Florida Space Authority, Florida Trail Association, Hall Planning and Engineering, Hillsborough County City and County Planning, Northwest Florida Water Management District, Cambridge Systematics, Rob Palmer Associates, US Department of Housing and Urban Development (through their HUD Work Study Program).

Under the CIP, employers commit to hiring one or more planning students as interns during the spring recruitment season (February through May) for graduate planning students applying for fall admission. The employer commitment is then pledged to the student as financial aid and is combined with a waiver of tuition from the University. This amount of aid, combined with a waiver of tuition, is  very attractive to prospective planning students and allows the department and the employer to benefit from these top quality students. 

Typically in March of each year the Department sends CIP employers dossiers on three prospective interns who are deemed to best fit the employer’s needs. Employers rank the prospects and determine which ones are acceptable. If none are acceptable, employers have no obligation. The Department makes financial aid offers to acceptable applicants who are ranked high by employers. After an employer agrees to a student, the Department and the employer execute a one-page contract. The University bills employers during the period of the contract, usually August through April.

Interns normally work 16 hours per week for 16 weeks during each of the Fall and Spring semesters. Employers may also hire the student directly during summers.

[For an example of the benefits of the Cooperative Internship Program, see this news release about the impact of DURP Interns on Blueprint 2000's grant awards.]

Advantages for the employer include:

• Having the Department conduct a national search for top planning students and interns. Currently, about half of master’s students come from states other than Florida. Hence, employers obtain the benefits of a national search at no cost to themselves.
• Being able to compete for all of the 160 or so students who apply to FSU each year.
• Being able to line up students who will work for employers for the full two years they are in the master’s program.

Advantages for the student include:

•  An attractive financial aid package.
•  Valuable work experience.

Advantages for FSU Urban and Regional Planning include:

• Being able to attract the best planning students in the nation to Tallahassee and Florida. Since two-thirds of our students remain in Florida, this helps Florida to attract and retain some of the best future planners in the nation.

For More Information on the Program

Home | Department Overview | News/Events | Degree Programs | Courses | People | Research |

| Info for Prospective Students | Info for Existing Students | Info for Alumni | Info for Employers | Links |