Nov. 21, 2013

Contact: Tom Knothe at teknothe@viterbo.edu

VITERBO TO GUARANTEE ALL BUSINESS
STUDENTS PAID INTERNSHIPS

LA
CROSSE, Wis. – Beginning next fall, all Viterbo University business majors will
be guaranteed a paid internship. 

Viterbo is believed to be among the
first in the nation to offer such a guarantee.

“The paid internship program assures
that every business student will not have to choose between earning money and
preparing for their career,” said Tom Knothe, dean of the Dahl School of
Business.

All of the traditional business
majors (accounting, business administration, management and leadership,
marketing, and sport management) require students to complete either an
internship or a field practicum.  Most students complete the internship
during their junior year or first semester of their senior year.  Last
year, 70 percent of the 47 business internships/field practicums were paid.

Also
benefitting from the announced paid internship program will be the non-profit
sector where at some sites, employers are often unable to budget for interns.

Viterbo
received grants this year from the Bremer and Great Lakes Foundation to provide
for some paid internships and Knothe credited those gifts with providing the
momentum, to expand the paid internships to all business students.

“It’s the right thing to do,”
Knothe said.  “A student’s income level
shouldn’t determine if he or she can afford an internship. Paid internships
level the playing field for everyone.”

                                                                                                                 -30-