Global Internship Program

Economics: Internships in Prague

  • Dates

    Internship Abroad: June 24 – August 19, 2023

    Online Courses: June 26 – September 1, 2023

  • Location

    Prague, Czech Republic

  • Program Fee

    UCLA Undergrads (4 – Units): $6,900

    UCLA Undergrads (8 – Units): $8,016

    *Fees are subject to change by action of the UC Regents. Click here for full fee disclaimer.

***Info Session: Click here to watch our recent info session***

The capital city of the Czech Republic, Prague is viewed as the political, cultural, and economic center of central Europe. A metropolis of over 1.3 million people, it has preserved its stunning historic architecture while blending it with a modern 21st century vibe. Its compact city center and great public transportation system make it easy to get around. Interns will have an opportunity to experience the city from a local’s perspective while living and working in this vibrant metropolis.

Internship placements are approximately eight weeks long. UCLA partners with the European Centre for Career Education (ECCEDU) to place students at internship sites based on personal career goals, interests, and experience. While completing the on-site internship, students will also be enrolled in one or two online courses, earning between four and eight units of academic credit. Online courses follow Summer Session A and will last for a total of ten weeks. Student’s planning to use financial aid must enroll in two courses for the program.

Application Timeline

Application Opens:  October 24, 2022

Application Closes:  December 4, 2022

Final Payment Deadline: February 10, 2023

Cancellation Deadline: February 15, 2023

Please do not enroll in a Global Internship Program unless you are sure you intend to participate. Remember that your deposit is nonrefundable. See our Cancellation Policy. The cancellation deadline is February 15, 2023 at 11:59PM. Paid program fees (minus $300 nonrefundable deposit) are refundable until February 15, 2023 at 11:59PM.

Eligibility, Selection and Placement Process

Course Requirements

To participate in the UCLA Economics: Global Internship Program, it is MANDATORY that you complete the following coursework by the end of Spring 2023. Your acceptance is conditional upon successful completion of these courses prior to the start of the Program:

  • Economics 1, 2, 11, 101
  • Math 31A or 31AL, 31B
  • Writing II

*We also strongly encourage you to complete at least one introductory statistics course such as Econ 41, Math 170E, 170S, or Stats 10, 100A, 100B, before beginning the program.  We believe some background in statistics will be helpful with your internship.

Additional Eligibility Criteria

  • Undergraduate student
  • Economics Major, Business Economics Major or Mathematics Economics major
    • Pre-majors who plan to complete the coursework listed above prior to the internship start date are eligible.
  • Minimum of 90 units completed by end of Spring 2023
    • Units can include AP and transfer credit
  • Cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
  • Good academic standing

Selection Process

Students who apply that meet the eligibility criteria will conduct an advising call with the European Centre for Career Education (ECCEDU), our partners in Prague. Through this advising call ECCEDU will learn more about each applicant’s qualifications, experience and career goals. The call will help ECCEDU determine whether the applicant is a good match for available internship opportunities in Prague. After the call is completed, ECCEDU and UCLA will decide whether to offer the applicant acceptance into the Prague Global Internship Program based on their qualifications and the pool of applicants.

Acceptance Decisions

Applicants will be notified of acceptance decisions in early January.

Placement Process

Students selected for the Prague program will need to place their program deposit first, in order to be officially enrolled in the program. After enrolling in the Prague program, a placement coordinator from ECCEDU will work with each student one-on-one to find the best internship match. Internship placements are customized to a students’ personal and career goals, interests and experience. Students will intern approximately 32-to-40 hours per week at their internship placement.

Disclaimer

The Global Internship Program provides all participants with meaningful internship placement opportunities. Students must be realistic, however, about the level of their internship placement. Students with limited or no work experience, limited leadership or volunteer experience, no specialization courses completed, or other kinds of related activities, will be placed in an entry-level position in their requested industry.

Documents to Prepare for Your Application

Resume

As part of the application process, you will be asked to upload a current copy of your resume. Please take time to appropriately format and spell check your resume before submitting. For assistance with your resume, you can use the VMock tool provided by the UCLA Career Center.

Motivation to Enroll Questionnaire 

As part of your application process you will be asked to complete a questionnaire. Responses should be well thought out and demonstrate why you are a strong candidate for the Global Internship Program. It’s highly encouraged to prepare your responses in advance on a Word document and then copy and paste to the application once you apply. The maximum word count for each short-answer response is 125 words. Please see the questions below to assist you in preparing your answers.

  • Personal Introduction: Please give some  general background on yourself and why you are interested in participating in the Global Internship Program? (125 word maximum)
  • Location of Interest: What makes you interested in interning in the particular city or country you selected for your program? (125 word maximum)
  • Career Goals: Within your career field, which specific sector are you interested in working in and what do you hope to gain from this global internship experience? How will this experience assist you toward reaching your career goals? (125 word maximum)
  • Why should you be selected? What do you think makes you stand out as a strong candidate for the Global Internship Program? Why should you be selected for the program? (125 word maximum)

Internship Placements

Prague Placement Options – Placements will be focused on economic analysis, forecasting and planning in the following areas:

  • Consulting Firms
  • Corporations
  • Investment Banking Firms
  • Litigation Consulting Firms
  • Government Agencies

Examples Placements:

Please note that these are just a few examples of student placements from past years and there is no guarantee that these same placements will be available for future terms. There are many more placements available in Prague than those listed below. Your internship placement will be determined through an interview process to match you with a company or organization aligned with your skills and interests.

Internship Hours

Students will intern approximately 32 hours per week. Total weekly hours will depend on specific internship placement.

Curriculum

Program Courses

All students are required to enroll in the ECON 195C course while attending the program. Students who wish to earn more units and/or apply for financial aid, may also enroll in ECON 199A OR CESC 130.

  • ECON 195C (4 units) ~ Mandatory
  • ECON 199A (4 units) ~ Optional 
    • Enrollment must be approved and sponsored by an Economics Faculty member
  • CESC 130 (4 units) ~ Optional 

* Please note that in order to be eligible for financial aid, students must be enrolled in both the mandatory course AND an optional course (total of 8-units).  Due to the rigor of the internship program students can only enroll in a maximum of 8 units.

Course Descriptions

ECON 195C: Community and Corporate Internships in Economics (4 units)

Prerequisites:  ECON 11  and ECON 101

Limited to juniors/seniors. Internship in corporate, governmental, or nonprofit setting. Students complete weekly written assignments, attend biweekly zoom meetings with graduate student coordinator, and write final research paper. Faculty sponsor and graduate student coordinator construct series of reading assignments that examine issues related to internship site. P/NP  grading only.

*This course may not be applied toward Economics major requirements.

ECON 199A: Directed Research in Economics (4 units)

Prerequisites:  ECON 11, ECON 101 and ECON 102

Limited to juniors/seniors. Supervised individual research or investigation under guidance of faculty mentor. Culminating paper or project required. P/NP or letter grading.

* The course may be applied only once toward Economics major requirements. Enrollment must be approved by an Economics Faculty member in advance (individual contract required). 

CESC 130: Intercultural Communication in the Global Workplace (4 units)

Prerequisites:  None

This 4-unit course is designed to help students critically analyze their own cultural values and beliefs and the impact they have on their communication. It will provide students with strategies and tools to more effectively communicate and to manage intercultural conflicts in the global workplace. Students will study and critique intercultural communication theories, review relevant case studies and discuss first hand experiences from their global internship. This course must be taken for a letter grade. Auditing and P/NP is not allowed.

Budget and Financial Aid

Budget UCLA Undergrads (4-Units)  UCLA Undergrads (8-Units)
Program Fee $6,900 $8,016
IEI Fee $61 $61
Airfare (estimate) $1,800 $1,800
Meals & Incidentals (estimate) $1,700 $1,700

*Fees are subject to change by action of the UC Regents. Click here for full fee disclaimer.

Program fee includes:

  • Tuition
  • Internship placement
  • Shared room accommodations in student housing
  • Airport transfer to accommodations
  • On-site orientation 
  • 8 half-day speaking engagements delivered by leaders from top-tier firms
  • 2 one day weekend trips to key cultural sites in the Czech Republic
  • Optional social, cultural, and networking activities
  • Local SIM card
  • 24/7 healthy and safety support from the ECCEDU staff
  • Health insurance.

Personal Expenses NOT Included:

  • Round trip Airfare to Prague
  • Personal travel during program
  • Costs for medical expenses and emergencies
  • Meals and entertainment expenses
  • Entrance fees & cost of regular social gatherings
  • Transportation to/from housing to internship site

IEI Fee

All undergraduate students will be charged a $61 IEI fee per summer. The IEI (Instructional Enhancement Initiative) fee is a course materials fee that is charged in order to support the use of technology in undergraduate education at UCLA. For more information please click here.

Budgeting

We recommend that you budget accordingly to cover optional sightseeing, laundry, emergencies, etc.  How much to budget depends on your travel, entertainment, and souvenir choices. It is always best to overestimate your spending. Take the time to research the cost of living in your destination and the activities you want to participate in while abroad.

Purchasing Airfare

All Global Internship program participants are required to purchase and arrange their own travel accommodations to Prague. Students should not purchase their flight to Prague until informed to do so by UCLA.

*The purchase of a fully-refundable and/or flexible airfare is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.  

Financial Aid

Financial aid for Summer Global Internship Programs is available to qualified UCLA students. Students must be enrolled in a total of 8 units (2 courses) to be eligible for financial aid. For details about the financial aid application process, please visit the Financial Aid section of this website.

On Location

Arrival

Our partner organization, ECCEDU will provide airport pickup for your internship program.  You will be responsible for making your own arrangements back to the airport at the end of the program.

Accommodations

You will reside in shared room accommodations in student housing (including possibly other non-UCLA students interning in Prague). Accommodations come with bedding, basic Wifi and communal kitchen access. Accommodations are typically within a 30-to-60 minute commute from internship sites.

Meals

Meals are not provided. You will have access to  shared kitchen space in your student housing to cook.

Optional Social, Cultural and Networking Activities

This program offers organized events around the city that you are free to participate in with the other internship program participants. Please note there may be additional fees to participate in the activities.

Travel

Travel to Prague

All Global Internship program participants are required to purchase and arrange their own travel accommodations to Prague. Students should not purchase their flight to Prague until informed to do so by UCLA.

*The purchase of a fully-refundable and/or flexible airfare is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED.  

Visa Information:

U.S. citizens are not required to obtain a visa to conduct an internship in the Czech Republic.

For non-US citizens you may be required to apply for a Schengen Visa to intern in the Czech Republic, please contact IEO if you have additional questions regarding your visa eligibility for the program. Students are responsible for making their embassy appointment once they receive their visa paperwork.

Personal Travel

The Global Internship Program is an intensive 8 week experience. Internship sites will expect students to complete their weekly hours and will not be providing vacation days during the program. Although it may be possible for students to conduct short weekend trips, all longer trips should be conducted prior to or after the conclusion of the Global Internship Program.