Frequently Asked Questions

The Professional Practice Program consists of supervised work experience arranged by the student and approved by the Department of Accounting. The Professional Practice (Internship) Program offers students the opportunity to integrate classroom knowledge with a "real-world" work experience in accounting. The experience allows students explore a career path in accounting, career development mentorship, valuable experience in their field of study, and academic credit.

Students who are interested in internships range from who have completed their junior year to seniors and graduate students who may be a semester away from graduating. These students will have completed two semesters of introductory accounting, two semesters of intermediate accounting, one semester of managerial/cost accounting, one semester of statistics, and have shown competency in MS Office programs such as Excel. They will have completed a number of Illinois State ’s general education courses, including courses in composition (writing) and speech communication. In addition, they will most likely be taking, or have recently completed, business core courses in finance, law, management, and marketing.

Internships are arranged between the student and employer. The Department of Accounting does not award or assign an internship to any student.

The Department of Accounting in conjunction with the Career Center offer an Accounting Only Career Fair in the Fall and Spring semester. ISU’s Career Center also offers Open Career Fairs; employers recruit all academic majors for discipline specific internships/jobs throughout the year. The Career Center posts the dates and times of all career fairs on the Career Services website.
Students can also arrange internships with employers through contacts outside of the career fairs.

In order to assure a beneficial educational experience, the Department of Accounting has developed some criteria for approving an internship. In general, an internship will be approved if it meets the following criteria.

• Working in accounting area of a company
• Receive supervision from accounting professional
• Assigned to accounting related tasks
• Compensation is an indicator of professional level activity

Once you have obtained an internship, you will need to submit an online internship application; the internship coordinator will evaluate the information submitted to determine if the internship qualifies for Professional Practice academic credit

A minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.80 is required for junior level internships (ACC 398) and a minimum grade point average of 3.20 is required for senior and graduate level internships (ACC 498)

The deadlines for internship applications are:

• Fall and Spring Semester: by 4:00 pm on the 10th official day of the semester
• Summer: by 4:00 pm on June 30th (if June 30th falls on a weekend, first Monday in July)
• Students are encouraged to submit internship applications as soon as they are notified of their internship.

1. Online Acknowledgement of Risk/External Experience Certificate
2. Online Professional Practice Health Insurance Certification
3. Online written description of internship duties
4. Upload Internship confirmation letter from employer (any document the internship employer provides; noting that you have been accepted as an intern at their company (i.e. formal written letter, email, etc). Confirmation letter must be uploaded when online application is completed

Students are eligible to receive academic credit for a qualified internship. If the student chooses to receive academic credit for their internship, they must apply to the internship to the Internship Coordinator for an eligibility determination. If the internship has sufficient academic rigor the student can earn academic credit. Internships require 60 hours of work for each credit hour earned for a maximum of 6 credit hours. Students typically earn 3 or 6 credit hours for their internship efforts

It takes about 3 to 4 days for the internship coordinator to evaluate your application.

If the internship has sufficient academic rigor, the internship coordinator sends you and your Accounting Academic Advisor an approval email. Your Accounting Academic Advisor(s), Gina Turton (A-H) and Kathy Sims (I-Z), who will issue a permit to register for the internship course.
Your academic advisor will guide you on which Professional Practice (Internship) course (ACC 298/398/498) you should register. The student will be notified when the permit has been entered and given any necessary instructions. It is the responsibility of the student to officially register for the applicable Professional Practice course (i.e. ACC 298/398/498). If the student fails to register, credit will not be awarded. Under no circumstance will credit be awarded retroactively for Professional Practice. Permits to register cannot be issued unless your internship is approved for academic credit.

Yes, a final grade is assigned for completing the Professional Practice Program.
The student’s course grade consists of two (2) evaluations from their supervisor and a written paper about their internship experience. The mid-term evaluation represents 25%, the final evaluation represents 35%, and the written paper represents 40% of the course grade. Additional details are provided through Reggienet during the semester
Evaluations are submitted online. Evaluations should be completed during the online submission period, as specified in the instructions provided to the students. The online evaluations will only be accessible during the evaluation submission period. Students and supervisors will be email notification of open/close dates of submission period. Students enrolled in ACC 298/398/498 will be provided opening and closing dates of the submission period, as well as detailed evaluations instructions.