Eligibility |How to Apply |Personal Statement Instructions |Contact Information

Eligibility

To be eligible to be considered for the Work Exemption Program students must meet the following criteria and must be available to fulfill the additional program requirements listed below.

1. Enrolled undergraduate student of Columbia College or Columbia Engineering.
2. Currently registered student in good standing with at least a 3.0 cumulative G.P.A. at the time you apply for the program.
3. Recipient of Columbia Grant that includes a semester or summer savings expectation. Applicants applying for the fall or spring term should have a corresponding fall or spring term Student Employment or Federal Work Study Expectation.  If you are unsure if this type of award is part of your financial aid package please contact the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid & Educational Financing.  Please note, if you are receiving any form of outside scholarship or tuition or VA benefit, or are serving as a Resident Adviser (RA) for Columbia University, you may be ineligible or have reduced eligibility for the Work Exemption Program.  Please contact the Office of Financial Aid & Educational Financing at ugrad-finaid@columbia.edu or (212) 854-3711 before applying for WEP if the aforementioned circumstances apply to you.
4. Secured an unpaid internship, research opportunity or volunteer opportunity prior to the application deadline.  Please note, opportunities that are a component of an academic program of study or for which course credit is being offered (including research conducted for the sole purpose of a senior thesis project) and participation in extra-curricular activities on-campus are not eligible for the Work Exemption Program. 
   
5. Ability to participate in professional development exercises which includes attending a first time participant's workshop, completing a goal-setting exercise, networking with fellow grant recipients and creating a program reflection project.

Applicants who do not meet these criteria and incomplete applications will not be considered.

How to Apply

To apply for the program, students must provide the following:

1. Submit online application
2. Submit five (5) supporting documents through LionSHARE 
   • Resume
   • Unofficial Transcript - Please note, if you are applying during your first semester as a student at Columbia you should still provide a copy of your transcript showing the classes that you are enrolled for.  A screenshot from SSOL will be accepted as an "unofficial" transcript.
   • Personal statement - details on what to include in your statement are below
   • Employer Verification form
   • One letter of recommendation - If you are reapplying to receive the WEP grant for an opportunity for a consecutive semester you do not need to submit a new recommendation for the same opportunity.  This requirement is waived only for students continuing with the same opportunity between a fall and spring semester, a spring and summer semester, or a summer and fall semester.
3. To submit your supporting documents through Lionshare
   • Upload all required supporting documents in the "My Documents" section of Lionshare.  Please note, if your recommendation or Employer Verification form have been submitted directly to the Work Exemption Program Committee (see below) you will still need to upload a document to the required supporting document field in the Lionshare job posting.  Simply upload a Word document in place of the recommendation or Employer Verification that says this information will be submitted directly.
   • Locate the current semester Work Exemption Program job posting by searching by employer name "Work Exemption Program"
   • Once you have located the current Work Exemption Program job posting apply for the job by using the "Apply Now" button within the posting and following the document upload instructions.  Please note, the "Apply Now" button will only appear in the job posting if all of the required supporting documents have been uploaded to your "My Documents" section.

The Employer Verification form and Letter of Recommendation must be completed by people other than you.  These documents can be downloaded at the top of this page.  Once you receive the documents, they must be scanned and uploaded into LionSHARE.  If you do not have access to a scanner you may also submit a hard copy of these documents to the care of the Work Exemption Program Committee at the Center for Career Education.  If your employer or recommendation writer prefers they can also send the recommendation and/or Employer Verification form directly to the Work Exemption Program committee at columbia-wep@columbia.edu.

Personal Statement Instructions

Your personal statement to be considered for the Work Exemption Program should be limited to two-three double-spaced pages in total.

If this is your first time applying for Work Exemption or if you are a returning applicant applying with a new research, volunteer, or internship opportunity please provide the following information in your personal statement:

• Description of the Opportunity: Describe in as much detail as possible the internship/research/volunteer opportunity and your role and responsibilities.  List duties, projects to be completed, deadlines, etc.  Explain why you want to engage in this type of experience at this particular organization or with this particular faculty adviser.
• Learning Objectives:  Provide responses to these questions: What do you intend to learn through this experience, What are your specific goals through this experience and How does this experience fit into your overall academic interests and/or career goals.
• Supervision:  Describe in as much detail as you can the supervision to be provided.  Include what kind of instruction, assistance, training, etc., you will receive, and from whom you expect to receive it.  Note when and how you will be evaluated and who will do the evaluation.
• Commitment: Students selected for the Work Exemption Program are required to participate in all elements of the program, including attendance at a professional development event and submission of a formal program reflection paper.  If you are unable to fully commit to all these program participation requirements, please describe why. You will still be considered for the program.
• Conclusion:  Please explain why you should be considered for this program and describe how your plans will be affected if you do not receive a work exemption to participate in this experience.

If you are reapplying for Work Exemption for an opportunity that is continuing into the next semester please provide the following information in your personal statement:

• Description of the Opportunity: Provide a brief synopsis of this internship/research/volunteer opportunity and your role and responsibilities.  Please explain if your duties or projects will be changing or if you will be assuming any additional levels of responsibility next semester.  Include information about why you are interested in continuing your work at this particular organization or with this particular faculty adviser.
• Learning Objectives:  Provide responses to these questions: What did you originally intend to learn through this experience and how have these learning objectives been met.  How have these learning objectives changed or developed? What new goals have you set for yourself for your continued work with this organization?  How has this experience impacted your overall academic interests and/or career goals?
• Supervision:  Describe in as much detail as you can the supervision that you have been provided with.  Include what kind of instruction, assistance, training, etc., you have received and from whom you have received it.  Note when and how you have been evaluated and if this supervisory experience will change or remain the same in the upcoming semester.
• Commitment: Students selected for the Work Exemption Program are required to participate in all elements of the program, including attendance at a professional development event and submission of a formal program reflection paper.  If you are unable to fully commit to all these program participation requirements, please describe why. You will still be considered for the program.
• Conclusion:  Please explain why you should be considered for continued support from the Work Exemption Program and describe how your plans will be affected if you do not continue to receive a work exemption to participate in this experience.

Further details about how the application personal statement is utilized in the application review processed can be found on the Work Exemption Program Frequently Asked Questions page

Contact Information

Please visit the Work Exemption Program Frequently Asked Questions page to learn more about the WEP committee, application process, and selection of program participants.  If you have any further questions not addressed here regarding the WEP application or selection process please email the Work Exemption Program committee at columbia-wep@columbia.edu.