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AEI internships provide students with an opportunity to learn from some of America’s most renowned scholars, economists, political scientists, and foreign policy specialists conducting research on today’s prominent public policy questions. The Institute provides an intellectually stimulating environment, rich with critical thinking, scholarship, and lively debate.
AEI internships are available in the Fall, Spring, and Summer to experienced undergraduate students, graduate students, and recent graduates. A minimum 3.0 GPA is required; however, most successful candidates have at least a 3.5 GPA.
Due to the volume of applications, only candidates selected to move forward in the interview process will be contacted.
We accept applications from candidates who are authorized to work in the US via an F-1 or a J-1 visa, provided the internship satisfies their program requirements. If your authorization to work in the US limits the number of hours you may intern or how long you may work in the US, please include this information in your cover letter.
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The American Enterprise Institute seeks an intern to assist with research and writing on a wide range of national security and defense issues. Interns will support the work of Senior Fellows Elaine McCusker, Todd Harrison, and William C. Greenwalt, and Nonresident Senior Fellow John G. Ferrari, and the Defense Futures Simulator.
Key responsibilities may include:
- Conducting quantitative research and modeling...
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The American Enterprise Institute seeks an intern for the Coalition Defense of Taiwan who will conduct research in support of scholar Dan Blumenthal and others. The team’s portfolio focuses on US defense policy and security issues in the Indo-Pacific, including China’s military modernization, interests and objectives of US allies, and cross-Strait relations.
Key responsibilities may include:
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The Asian Security and Technology intern at the American Enterprise Institute will conduct research in support of Fellow Ryan Fedasiuk. The Asian Security and Technology portfolio focuses on US defense policy and security issues in the Indo-Pacific, including U.S.-China technology competition, China’s approach to industrial policy, and integrating policy and innovation.
Key responsibilities may include:
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The American Enterprise Institute seeks an intern who will assist Senior Fellow Daniel A. Cox, director of the Survey Center on American Life. Dr. Cox is an expert on polling and public opinion and specializes in survey research, politics, generational change and identity, and religion. The intern will have the opportunity to work on a range of public opinion projects and gain exposure to various survey analysis techniques and polling methodologies, with an emphasis on studying the growing gender divide in public opinion among young people for a forthcoming book by Dr. Cox.
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The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) seeks an intern who will assist Senior Fellow Gary J. Schmitt and Senior Fellow Jonah Goldberg, among other scholars in AEI’s Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department. Dr. Schmitt researches the American presidency, the U.S. Constitution and its principles, and American civic life. Mr. Goldberg conducts research on American conservatism while producing frequent political analysis on current events.
Responsibilities for this internship...
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The American Enterprise Institute seeks an intern who will assist Senior Fellows Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey, co-directors of AEI's Center for the Future of the American University. The intern will support Dr. Storey and Dr. Silber Storey’s research on higher education reform, civic thought, and the philosophic life.
Responsibilities include researching primary and secondary sources, using scholarly databases and academic libraries, monitoring ongoing debates in higher...
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The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) seeks an intern who will assist Senior Fellow Kevin R. Kosar in AEI’s Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies department. Dr. Kosar researches the US Congress, particularly how its members respond to changes in procedural rules and electoral incentives.
The intern will assist Dr. Kosar’s work on Congress and elections by reading transcripts of congressional hearings and the Congressional Record; collecting, cleaning, and analyzing data; editing...
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The American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility (COSM) seeks a driven, research-oriented intern for summer 2026. The intern will work closely with COSM research staff to research, identify, and promote policies that improve opportunity and mobility for low-income Americans. COSM scholars study the determinants of economic mobility and human flourishing in America through empirically driven and policy-informing research.
The COSM intern will interact with a variety of research and policy areas, including federal safety-net programs such...
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The American Enterprise Institute’s Center on Opportunity and Social Mobility seeks a driven, research-oriented candidate for its workforce development team. The vocation, career, and work intern will work closely with Senior Fellow Brent Orrell and staff to research the intersectional domain of workforce development policy.
Current projects include analyzing the present and future of work, economic trends in response to artificial intelligence, the skills needed for...
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The American Enterprise Institute’s Center for Technology, Science, and Energy (CTSE) seeks a driven, research-oriented intern. The intern will work closely with Senior Fellow M. Anthony Mills and CTSE staff to research the relationship between the federal government and the scientific research establishment, the role of expertise in democracy, and the history and impact of federal science policy. Intern duties will include assisting with a book manuscript, conducting literature reviews, retrieving and analyzing data, editing and drafting materials, discussing research ideas, organizing and assisting with the execution of conferences and seminars, and providing background research...
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The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) seeks an in-person intern for its technology policy studies program, which focuses on advancing policies to encourage innovation, competition, and growth in technology and seeks to minimize unintended consequences amid the rise of disruptive technology, such as artificial intelligence. The intern will assist AEI’s technology policy team with the program’s daily research and administrative activities and the tech policy newsletter.
The...
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The American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center seeks an intern to support the research of Senior Fellows Edward J. Pinto and Tobias Peter on domestic housing, historical and current mortgage lending policies, and financial policy reform.
Primary assignments will include helping maintain the center’s various indexes and large databases; supporting research through data management, retrieval, and analysis; editing and contributing to scholarly papers, articles, and op-eds; creating and...
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The American Enterprise Institute's Center for Technology, Science, and Energy (CTSE) seeks a driven, research-oriented intern for fall 2026. The intern will work closely with CTSE scholars and staff on research spanning energy economics, electricity regulation, and the institutions that govern technology and innovation. CTSE scholars produce empirically grounded, policy-relevant work on these questions, and the intern will contribute directly to active research projects.