Starting this fall, students at Wichita State University have the option to gain internship experience in their major -- and get recognition on their transcript -- without having to pay tuition.

Previously, students could only get an internship through WSU's Career Development Center noted on their transcript if they paid for academic credit. But that system didn't account for students who couldn’t pay the tuition or had already met their credit or internship requirements in their major.

The new Zero Credit Internships mean that more students wanting experiential learning opportunities before they graduate can benefit from the center’s services. They also allow participating employers to search through a larger student pool to pick talent when recruiting for internships.

“Our office is always looking for better ways to serve students,” says Kim Kufahl, assistant director of marketing and strategic communications for the center, previously known as the Office of Cooperative Education and Work-Based Learning. “This way they get the experience, recognition and the support of our office.”

And the support of the Career Development Center is key to WSU students wanting an internship. Without going through the center, students are on their own if they have a problem or question about their internship or employer.

“Students get to have our office on their side,” Kufahl says. “If there is a problem at their worksite or just a professional question, we can help or intervene on the students’ behalf, if necessary.”

Students also get feedback on their performance through the center’s employer evaluation process, and center staff works with employers to make sure the worksite is a productive, safe learning environment.

Zero Credit Internships are also expected to help the university as a whole, Kufahl says. When a student gets an internship without going through the Career Development Center, the university has no way of knowing about it, and valuable data is lost.

“Our office and the university want to capture as much data as we can of students completing experience-based learning,” Kufahl says. “With Zero Credit Internships, we are hoping to collect more. Each academic college benefits with the use of this to further promote their programs.”