2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Internships and other forms of work-based learning have become integral to engineering education, providing students with opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge, develop technical and professional skills, establish career networks, and transition smoothly into the engineering workforce. However, significant inequities persist between community college students and their four-year university counterparts in accessing internships. National data indicate that community college students are about half as likely to participate in internships as those enrolled at universities. This disparity constrains professional exposure and upward mobility, particularly for underrepresented and first-generation students who start their education at a community college.

The barriers contributing to this gap are complex. Many community colleges lack dedicated engineering career services and established employer partnerships, while industries often recruit mainly through university pipelines rather than two-year institutions. As a result, even high-achieving community college students are systematically excluded from high-impact experiential learning opportunities that support persistence, transfer, and workforce readiness.

To address these challenges, the ABC School of Engineering developed an equity-driven internship model designed to expand access to work-based learning through intentional industry collaboration. The initiative employs three key strategies:
1. Cohort Internship Model — Structured cohorts that provide academic support, mentorship, and clear employment pipelines;
2. Industry-Integrated Engagement — Inviting partners to serve as guest speakers and to lead résumé workshops and mock interviews; and
3. Engineering Internship Fairs — Creating relationship-based recruitment events that promote sustained engagement between students and employers rather than transactional exchanges.

Employer perceptions of student preparedness and participation are evaluated through surveys and case study interviews, while internship placement rates and longitudinal job attainment in engineering fields measure the program outcomes.
Since its inception, the ABC School of Engineering has facilitated approximately 400 internship placements, showing a significant increase in both industry partnerships and student participation. Employer attendance at internship fairs continues to increase, and members of the first student cohort have received full-time job offers, some even before completing their bachelor’s degrees.

This paper presents the ABC School of Engineering’s community college–industry partnership model as a replicable framework for advancing equity and workforce alignment in engineering education. The study highlights strategies for building sustainable industry partnerships, increasing access to paid internships, and scaling work-based learning across multi-campus systems. By bridging the gap between community colleges and industry, this model enhances student outcomes while strengthening the national engineering talent pipeline, which is essential to innovation and competitiveness.