By Emily GlazerThe Daily Northwestern

Countless students spend summers interning and leave without a penny in their pockets.

Thanks to a new program that will award $2,000 to 10 students serving unpaid internships this summer, this problem may soon be remedied.

University President Henry Bienen announced the approval of the Summer Internship Grant Program on March 7, after it was first proposed by Associated Student Government in April 2005.

Current freshmen, sophomores and juniors serving internships in traditionally unpaid fields, such as the arts and humanities or for legal, advocacy or political organizations, are eligible.

Weinberg senior Whitney Gretz said she first came up with the idea for the program when she interned for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) the summer after her freshman year.

Gretz said she did the same work for the same amount of time as some students from the University of Chicago, but that they got paid because of a program at their school that awards more than 100 students between $3,000 and $3,500 each for completing unpaid summer internships.

“Right away it hit very close to home,” she said.

Gretz said University of Chicago was not the only comparable school with a program that awards students stipends for unpaid summer internships.

Smith College and University of Pennsylvania also had similar programs, she said.

But unlike those programs, NU’s program will choose applicants based in part on financial need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid.

A committee of career services staff, alumni and students, who were also involved in creating the program, will consider applications, which require short essays, a resume and an academic transcript.

Students who don’t yet have internships are still eligible to apply, as career services internship specialists will help them in their search.

Gretz said she hoped the program would later expand to more students and offer a larger stipend.

She said NU has only agreed to fund the program for three years, so there’s hope that alumni will eventually donate to the program.

“(Most alumni) can’t give enough money to build a new Norris (University Center) but they can even give a few hundred dollars to one person’s internship to make or break that student’s summer,” Gretz said. “We really have faith in this program. We knew if we could get some seed money and a test year, the program could really be successful and grow.”

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Monday. Students will be notified of their admission status by e-mail April 27.

Reach Emily Glazer at [email protected].