Experience
You will gain the experience you need to launch your career through robust on-campus employment opportunities and paid internships in your field of interest.
Real-World Experience That Sets You Apart
Employers don’t just want to know what you studied—they also want to know what you’ve done. That’s why we make sure you graduate with hands-on, relevant experience that puts your education into action and gives you real stories to share in interviews and applications.
Opportunities for Experience
Structured Internships for Every Major
Our location in Portland, Oregon, provides countless professional opportunities—just one of the many reasons to go to college at Lewis & Clark. Internship sponsors and employers value the critical thinking and problem-solving skills that liberal arts students bring to the table. Multiple campus partners offer pathways to connect with opportunities. A few examples are:
- The Career Center offers students access to paid, project-based internship classes supported by a seminar component that includes a robust foundation for future career success.
- The Bates Center Summer Sustainability Internship course matches students with local organizations based on similar interests and skills, while earning course credit.
Graduate-Level Research as an Undergrad
Lewis & Clark professors are experts in their fields who love to work with and learn from their students. Our professors will teach you much more than just facts and theory—they rely on their students to be collaborative researchers, providing an opportunity that’s rarely available to undergraduates at other schools. Our students are even frequent coauthors on peer-reviewed faculty publications and professional presentations. Faculty from a variety of disciplines hire students as researchers on grant-funded projects, and over the summer, Lewis & Clark offers students paid, hands-on research experiences that rival those of graduate-level institutions.
Service Learning and Community Engagement
Our Center for Social Change and Community Involvement offers a number of programs to prepare students to make an impact and engage with their community, both locally and globally, in order to bring about active citizenship and social change. The L&C LEADS program provides collaborative, action-oriented leadership development, and the Nielson Social Change Innovation Grant program funds student projects focused on transformative initiatives. Students who regularly participate in immersive service-learning experiences and leadership development opportunities are eligible to earn the IMPACT certificate, which is a tangible way to be recognized for understanding the value of civic leadership and continued learning.
On-Campus Leadership and Employment
Lewis & Clark’s 110+ student-run clubs and organizations give you leadership experience in the subject areas that you most care about. Take on roles that matter, whether as a peer mentor, student senator, symposium cochair, lab assistant, and more.
The Outcome
You’ll graduate with stories, experiences, and accomplishments that prove your career readiness and reflect your values.