Summer Intern Project 1: Improving College Persistence

PPIC’s Summer Intern Program provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students interested in a public policy career to work in a policy research environment. Intern projects are proposed by PPIC staff members and designed around a specific set of tasks and deliverables that can be accomplished within the term of the internship. Please complete your application by February 9, 2025. We expect to make final selection decisions by mid-April.

Project title: Improving College Persistence Through Financial Aid for California Students

Project Directors: Rachel Yang Zhou and Kevin Cook

Project Description

In California, higher education is highly valued, but college affordability remains a significant barrier to obtaining a degree, despite its growing importance for stable employment. The cost of college underscores the need for government intervention in postsecondary financing, with financial aid playing a crucial role in alleviating financial constraints for low-income students. Recent initiatives, such as California’s universal financial aid application completion policy, have increased awareness of financial aid availability among high school students. This policy raises critical questions about how financial aid supports California students once they enroll in college, particularly in terms of their ability to persist and progress through their academic programs. This exploratory research aims to better understand the relationship between financial aid and college persistence in California. It will examine the allocation of financial aid between freshmen and continuing students, with a focus on trends over time and variations by student demographics and institutional characteristics. It will also investigate aid renewal rates, the average number of years for which aid is renewed, and how this relates to persistence and timely graduation. The research will further explore the eligibility criteria and processes for renewing financial aid, as well as the challenges that may cause students to lose their aid. By addressing these questions, the research will provide valuable insights into the role of financial aid in supporting college persistence, and highlight the challenges students may face in maintaining financial support as they work toward completing their degrees. The findings will guide the next study in the financial aid policy research agenda at the Higher Education Center, building on insights learned during this internship.

Responsibilities

The intern for this project will actively contribute to the initial phase of the research. Under the guidance of project supervisors, the intern will conduct a literature review on the relationship between financial aid and college persistence, gather and organize information on eligibility requirements and processes for accessing and renewing various types of financial aid, analyze publicly available data on trends in financial aid and college persistence. Time permitting, the intern will also assist with both quantitative analyses using large student-level datasets from state agencies, as well as qualitative research and outreach. The intern will also participate in regular research team meetings and will be a member of PPIC’s Higher Education Center.

Qualifications

The intern for this project should have:

• Training in education, public policy, economics, sociology, or a related field
• Strong analytical and organizational skills
• Experience reading and summarizing research
• Experience gathering data from public sources
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work independently and with a team
• Ability to seek and accept feedback, changing direction when necessary
• Data management and statistical programming experience (STATA, R, Excel, and/or Python) preferred
• Interest in California higher education policy

The Research Environment

Interns are offered the opportunity to participate in the collegial atmosphere of PPIC through daily interaction with all aspects of the institute. They are invited to join the staff in their regular meetings and to attend PPIC’s outside events, including the institute’s public affairs programs and research briefings. PPIC offers access to the Institute of Governmental Sciences library at the University of California, Berkeley, allowing interns to work with many important databases, journals, and statistical datasets. The intern program also includes a discussion of California state policy by PPIC’s government affairs staff.

Each intern’s project will include an initial meeting with research staff, and towards the end of the project, a briefing by the intern on the goals, findings, and significance of the project. In 2025, the following dates are expected to be in-person for all interns:

• • Tuesday, June 17, 2025: Internship kickoff in San Francisco
  • Wednesday, June 25, 2025: Capitol tour in Sacramento
  • Friday, August 22, 2025: Final presentations in San Francisco

Interns are encouraged to discuss their work throughout the course of the project, to meet with research staff to discuss careers in research, and to meet with communications staff to learn about outreach and building an audience of policymakers.

Location, Compensation, and Time on Project

The 2025 intern program will be conducted via hybrid or remote setup; the details of the setup will be arranged with the intern’s supervisor. Interns will need to be based in California while working on a PPIC project.

Compensation is $23 per hour. This full-time internship will last up to eleven weeks, ideally beginning June 16, 2025.

To Apply

As part of completing this application, submit your cover letter highlighting the particular skills you bring to the project and describing how this internship would contribute to your career development, and attach your resume as PDF or Word file.

Equal Employer Opportunity (EEO) statement:

PPIC celebrates diversity and is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a team that represents the backgrounds, perspectives, identities, and skills of California. No matter who you are, we invite you to apply for this role.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. AA/EEO/Veterans/Disabled employer