This program, offered in partnership by CTS and MnDOT, is designed to provide an opportunity for undergraduate students interested in transportation-related careers to gain real-world skills to complement their academic pursuits.
As part of the program, interns serve in paid positions at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) gaining hands-on professional experience. Participants work on transportation-focused projects and are provided with mentoring, training, and development opportunities.
Positions are available in several MnDOT offices across Minnesota for the summer of 2025. Students have the opportunity to work in functional areas from design, construction, and traffic to bridge maintenance and asset management.
Read more about interns' experiences in 2024
Eligibility
- Applicants must be undergraduate students currently pursuing degrees in civil, construction, environmental, geo-, and structural engineering at the University of Minnesota.
- No prior transportation-related work experience is required.
- Applicants must be legally eligible for employment in the United States. Proof of your eligibility to work in the United States will be required.
- Priority will be given to students completing their junior year, but sophomores may also apply.
- Priority will be given to applicants with a GPA of 3.0 or better.
- The program is open to all qualified applicants. Members of diverse groups are encouraged to apply.
How to Apply
Applications for summer 2025 positions have closed.
More Information
Please contact Carissa Frandrup at [email protected] or visit the the MnDOT Civil Engineering Student Worker Program web page.
Participant Highlights
“This internship has been crucial insofar as it has better acquainted me with the tools available to policymakers when it comes to addressing the multi-headed behemoth that is the affordable housing crisis. This internship has also given me the support I need to become more fluent in the languages of bureaucracy, a skill that I hope to use to better serve my community.”
—Alexander Johnson, 2024 intern
“For me, the most valuable experience has been getting to see how this work can save lives.”
—Ryan Mwangi, 2023 intern
“It was definitely a great opportunity to learn how building roads and fixing bridges should be done without causing harm to our habitat—something that I am personally passionate about.”
—Inara Smith, 2018 intern
“I never thought I would be doing such important work. My internship has shown me real-world application skills in the field of engineering [and] allowed me to create a clear path to landing a job.”
—Joshua Tarr, 2016 intern
"My internship has given me the opportunity to study a topic that hasn't really been explored in-depth before, and I’ve been finding things that people weren’t really expecting. And it might change the way that we go about making work zones safer.”
—Caitlin Johnson, 2015 intern
“This experience showed me problems and solutions in practice that I could not get from a classroom.”
—Justice Harvieux, 2014 intern