About the Internship

The internship experience is a year-long structured administrative assignment in a public school. During that time you will engage in all duties and activities designed to refine administrative behavior and improve schools as learning institutions for children.

At the same time, you’ll be enrolled in a seminar class designed to help you draw connections between your studies and field experiences, improve your administrative leadership skills, and support your fellow students as you all progress towards certification in principalship.

Full-time or Part-time options

Students may choose to complete a full-time or part-time internship. Internships may only begin in the fall semester, although some districts and schools welcome interns to engage in leadership activities during the summer. You must also be enrolled in the accompanying internship seminar in order to receive credit for your internship hours.

Full-time interns work as assistant principals for 10 months, earning a stipend from the state of North Carolina commensurate with the base salary of a beginning assistant principal (approximately $40,000 for the stipend at this time). To be eligible for the stipend, students must be enrolled for nine continuous hours for the year prior to starting the internship.

All Part-time Principal Licensure Applicants must complete 500 contact hours (about 260 hours per semester).

Internship Credit Hours

There are 12 required credit hours during the internship year:

  • EDUC 735: Seminar for Internship in Educational Administration I, 3 hrs
  • EDUC 736: Internship in Educational Administration I, 3 hrs
  • EDUC 737: Seminar for Internship in Educational Administration II, 3 hrs
  • EDUC 738: Internship in Educational Administration II, 3 hrs