Get a jump start on your career with professional experience in Washington, D.C. with the Washington Leadership Program (WLP).
During this semester-long program, you’ll live, work, and learn in our nation’s capital—while earning IU credit and gaining valuable professional experience.
Students typically participate in WLP in the fall or spring semester of their junior or senior year. Admission is open to all IU Bloomington and IUPUI students.
WLP participants serve as IU ambassadors in the nation’s capital and represent the O’Neill School as a future generation of leaders.
We are currently accepting applications for the Spring 2023 and Fall 2023 cohorts. Our next application deadline is Friday, September 30, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. If you have any questions about applying to the WLP, please contact wlp@indiana.edu for additional information.
Here is the information you’ll need for the online application:
As part of WLP, you will intern a full workweek in Washington, D.C. Working as a professional, you will complete substantive and independent assignments while gaining valuable career experience in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors.
You will be responsible for researching and applying for your own internship, but the O’Neill Career Hub is here to help. Use Career Hub as a resource throughout your search and application process—we can help with any necessary security clearance paperwork, as well as answer questions you may have leading up to and during your Washington, D.C. internship.
WLP students have worked in all three branches of government and the private and nonprofit sectors. Make a consultation with WLP staff today to learn more about what you might do in the program.
Description of the video:
As a member of congress, I had Washington Leadership students that worked in my congressional office. They got to see from the inside how a congressional office operated. In 2013, we went into a government shutdown. I had these Washington Leadership students who were the only staff. Because it was an internship program, I could keep them in the office. They helped me run that congressional office, and they did such a great job that when one of the young guys graduated, we had a job opening, we called and asked him to come work for us. He ended up being a staffer with me for about four years. And so I highly recommend students consider the Washington Leadership Program. It's a great way to kind of test the waters of public service.
As part of the Washington Leadership Program, the O’Neill School will arrange housing for you in the heart of Washington, D.C., through the Washington Intern Student Housing (WISH). You will live in a safe, convenient apartment close to public transportation. (Pictured: Chinatown Apartment)
Specific living, costs, roommate and move-in information will be provided during your orientation.
Learn more about housing through WISH
Once in D.C., your most economical form of transportation is the Metro rapid transit system. Your apartment will be within walking distance of Union Station. As a WLP student, you will not need a car during this semester. If you should occasionally need a car, Zipcar provides a convenient alternative.
Students from schools across the IU Bloomington and IUPUI campuses make up our cohort—including the Kelley School of Business, the Media School, the College, and the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Our campus-wide program develops professional skills and leadership.
WLP Alumnus 2016
“Like many first-generation students, I struggled transitioning into college life, until the day I decided to apply to the WLP.”
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WLP Alumna 2018
“I was used to being one of the few people of color in classrooms and workplaces. Then I started my WLP internship at EMILY’s List, surrounded by other South Asian-American women, which was transformative for my professional experience.”
WLP Alumnus 2017
“It’s important to learn about issues in the classroom and then be able to see for yourself how government agencies work together to address them.”
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