Student Opportunities
Gain valuable experience and jump start your career by taking part in internships and other student programs.
Student Volunteers
An unpaid training opportunity to students in high school and college.
Our Student Volunteer Program offers an unpaid training opportunity to students in high school and college, through which they can gain work experience related to their specific academic programs. The program allows participants to explore career options, as well as develop their personal and professional skills. As a student volunteer, the participant will be exposed to the Federal work environment and will learn about the missions and responsibilities of various Federal agencies and departments.
For more information, call 202-307-3177, e-mail BOP-HRM-SEERS-S@bop.gov
or contact your local BOP location.
Internships
Develop your skills and gain real-world work experience while getting paid.
Summer Law Intern Program
Summer Law Interns work in one or more of the branches in the Office of General Counsel -- Commercial Law, Real Estate and Environmental Law, Litigation, Employment Law and Ethics, Legislative and Correctional Issues, and the Legal Administrative Branch (FOIA). Interns have opportunities to handle projects from branches outside of their own in order to broaden their legal experience and knowledge. They conduct extensive legal research on novel issues and draft legal memoranda, opinions, and correspondence. Interns also visit Federal Correctional Institutions, take tours of various law enforcement branches of the Federal Government, and attend several brown bag lunches with Bureau of Prisons staff.
To be eligible for employment, students must have completed their first semester of law school. Volunteer, work-study, or compensated positions are available for summer and full-year internships.
The Department of Justice uses an online application process. Candidates may complete and submit an application electronically through the DOJ Summer Law Intern Program web page.
Listen to BOP attorneys and legal interns tell you about the opportunities available and what they enjoy most about practicing law at the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Listen to Bureau Interns talk about the program
Watch Bureau Attorneys talk about the program
Pathways Student Internship Program
The Pathways Internship Program is designed to provide students enrolled in a wide variety of educational institutions, from high school to graduate level, with meaningful training and career development opportunities. This program also helps students explore Federal careers while still in school and getting paid for work performed. Students who successfully complete the program may be eligible for conversion to a permanent position in the civil service. This program replaces the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) and Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).
To be eligible, students must be enrolled in an educational program and have a 2.5 cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA). Students must maintain a 2.5 GPA for the duration while participating in the program.
Review current Pathway openings
For more information, contact Staffing and Employee Relations (SERS) at 202-307-3177,
e-mail BOP-HRM-SEERS-S@bop.gov or
contact your local BOP location.
Psychology Doctoral Internship Program
Interested in a Psychology Doctoral Internship Program that prepares you for most any disorder in the DSM? Want the opportunity to specialize in forensic assessment, substance abuse treatment, or behavioral medicine? Looking to work with unique treatment populations such as geriatric, female, or violent offenders? A Psychology Doctoral Internship at the Federal Bureau of Prisons can deliver that and more.
One of the most respected programs of its kind, we look for internship candidates driven to make a difference for people who really need mental health treatment — those in correctional facilities. Our population struggles with a spectrum of mental health challenges. Which means your clinical experience here will be diverse, challenging and highly rewarding. Start your psychology career off right — in prison.
Graduate Programs
Programs for students nearing graduation or recent grads.
Attorney General's Honors Program
DOJ only hires graduating law students through the Attorney General's Honors Program. The Bureau's has a two-year fellowship that provides Honors Attorneys the opportunity to experience the wide range of legal practice in the Central Office, and each Honors Attorney will have the opportunity to practice in three or four different areas.
This program applies to students in their final year of law school who will graduate in the fall or winter prior to the year in which they will be employed, or in the spring or summer of the year in which they will be employed, are eligible. Judicial Law Clerks are also recruited under the Honors Program. However, the clerkship must be the first significant legal employment following law school graduation, and it must begin no later than nine months post-J.D. The amount of time served in the clerkship cannot exceed two years. Only persons who will conclude their clerkships on or after October 1 in the fall of the year in which they apply are eligible for consideration.
DOJ uses an online application process. Candidates may complete and submit an application electronically through the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management's website at www.usdoj.gov/oarm.
Clinical Rotations
Through collaborative and community based clinical rotations, the Bureau of Prisons helps mentor health care students in specially niched correctional medicine. This is achieved by supporting and encouraging community relationships with local Colleges and Universities. This program is committed to preparing the student to deal with an under served population in a professional correctional setting while fostering a clinically learned environment. Students will work closely with a collaborative team of healthcare preceptors to improve medical judgment and clinical skills as they fulfill their passion and commitment of becoming a successful healthcare professional.
Learn Tashima's Story
For more information, call 1-800-800-2676 ext 5, 919-575-8049, or email BOP-HSD-Recruitment@bop.gov.
Senior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program
The Bureau, in conjunction with the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), offers well-qualified students an excellent employment opportunity through the Senior Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program (SRCOSTEP). Through SRCOSTEP, students in select health-related fields of study are commissioned as Ensigns in PHS during the final year of academic study towards a qualifying degree or residency. Students receive full salary and benefits in exchange for an employment commitment at the sponsoring agency after graduation. For more information, call 202-353-4110.