The Baker Retailing Center Summer Internship Funding Program supports retail internships, with a special focus on opportunities that align with the concept of “retail with impact”.
These should be internships that are underfunded or offer a low hourly or monthly stipend. While all retail internships are eligible, we prioritize those that drive innovation, contribute to emerging markets, or focus on products and services that create meaningful impact.
This is for internships taking place between May-August.
The deadline to apply is May 30, 2025.
The center has funds to allow select students to pursue under-funded summer opportunities. Awards are intended to cover travel expenses, living expenses, and/or other expenses related to the summer experience, up to $5000. This is a competitive process, so please pay close attention to the details and instructions below to give your application the best chance of success.
Criteria to Apply:
Funding for the program is limited. Applicants must meet ALL criteria to be considered for an award:
- The student must have an accepted summer internship at the time that they apply. Students must have already officially committed their intent to the work and the employer has formally agreed. The scope of the role and duration of the work should already be determined.
- Be able to provide a copy of the offer letter.
- The accepted summer position must be low-paid. (please check with your respective career offices for average monthly summer internship salaries to assess if low-paid). Please note, funding is limited. Award amounts will depend on the overall number of qualifying applications that are submitted.
- The internship must be full-time, at least 35 hours per week for no less than 8 weeks.
- Employers must be providing some level of compensation.
Eligibility Requirements:
- Be a currently-enrolled, full-time, undergraduate or graduate Penn student returning to Penn for the Fall 2025 semester
- Graduating students and students who are on leave during the spring 2025 semester are not eligible to apply
- Study abroad programs and summer courses, even those with an internship or volunteer component, are not eligible for funding
- Fee-based internship programs are not eligible for funding
- Be willing to write a brief (450 word) summary of your experience at the end of the summer, which will be shared with our donors.
How to Apply:
Please be sure to follow the submission instructions carefully. Thanks for your attention to this!
- Submit, as part of your application, one PDF document with the following components numbered and in order. Email to bakerretail@wharton.upenn.edu with the subject line: “Baker Retailing Center Summer Internship Funding Application.”
- Page 1: Resume
- Page 2: Internship Offer Letter
- Page 3: Brief company and internship description
- Page 4: What the funding will be used for (provide a detailed budget)
- Page 5: Provide any other sources of summer income/funding
- Page 6: Personal Statement – Describe how this experience would be important to you and how it may influence your future academic and professional goals (roughly 450 words)
Additional details:
- All applications will be reviewed following the deadline and late applications will not be considered.
- Students selected to receive an award will be notified in mid-June.
- Award payments cannot be initiated until all necessary payment paperwork is completed.
- At the end of the summer, awardees must provide a (450 word) summary of the work you accomplished that will be shared with our donors.
- Any questions? Email Susan McMullen, Director, Academic and Industry Partnerships (mcmullen@wharton.upenn.edu)