Internships | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Internships

For FRE Students

An internship in Financial Engineering, as defined by our department, is a position that offers MSFE students a challenging, educational, and meaningful experience within the financial industry. These internships should foster intellectual development and serve as a valuable foundation for future career growth.


To be eligible for departmental course credit (and authorization for CPT), the internship must:

  • Be at the master’s level in terms of responsibility and complexity
  • Be directly relevant to financial engineering, typically within the finance sector (e.g., quant research, risk analysis, trading, model validation, data science in financial services)
  • Offer substantive learning and skill development aligned with the MSFE curriculum
  • Be a structured and supervised role with clear goals, tasks, and mentorship
     

We may consider positions in adjacent industries (such as insurance, consulting, or marketing analytics), but only if the role involves meaningful application of financial engineering methods. For instance, we cannot approve commission-based sales roles for credit.


Please note that the department requires all internships submitted for course credit to have a detailed job description that lays out the financial engineering responsibilities for the internship role in order to be considered. More details on what is required for approval can be found later in this document.

Disclaimer regarding unpaid internships

Please note that while most internship opportunities are paid, we understand that unpaid roles may occasionally arise. We strongly recommend pursuing an unpaid internship only if you are confident that it will offer meaningful value to your professional development and skill-building.


Regardless of compensation, the university encourages all students to obtain CPT and register for course credit for any internship. If you choose not to pursue CPT and course credit for an unpaid opportunity, it is your responsibility to ensure full compliance with labor laws and to avoid putting your current or future visa status at risk.


In the case of unpaid internships, both the student and employer are responsible for ensuring that the position meets state and federal Department of Labor (DOL) guidelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Registering for Internship Credit & Requesting Work Authorization

Students may request to register for the internship course FRE-GY.7021: Either one time (for a total of 1.5 elective credits) - OR - two times (for a total of 3 credits), which could fulfill the capstone requirement.

In order to use internship credits as a capstone experience, students must use two internships (in TWO separate semesters), either with the same company or separate companies. Students must also complete a written report on each experience.
1 semester internship & written report [1.5 Credits] X 2 = Capstone Credit

* NOTE: If a student interns one time with the intention of doing a 2nd internship in a later semester, but is unable to obtain a second internship or decides they no longer want to do a 2nd internship, the 1.5 credits used for the first internship will be used towards free elective credits. The student will then need to choose a different capstone experience (project, thesis, 3.00 credit special topics).
** NOTE: international visa students have a 3 credit maximum (two 1.5 credit internships) for CPT use **

Yes – you can use your internship credits as ELECTIVE credits, and do a separate capstone.

Step 1: Request FRE Internship Credit Approval / Permission Number: The first step is requesting FRE Credit approval from Professor Agnes Tourin, who oversees the Capstone course. You will need to provide the details of the internship (including an offer letter with all internship details*). That request should be submitted here: FRE Internship Credit Request Form.

*Details required on the offer letter in order to be approved by the department: Offer letter (on company letterhead) must include a job description, position title, # hours per week, start and end dates, name & contact info of manager, company and group name, pay rate & address at which the internship will take place. This should be signed (or e-signed) by the hiring manager or HR.

Step 2: Obtain Permission Number - Once approved by Prof Tourin, you will receive a permission number allowing you to register.

Step 3: Submit CPT Request Form [Students Requiring CPT]. You will need to complete your CPT application via the CPT Electronic Request Form. Additional details on this process are available on the NYU OGS website. This will be electronically reviewed for approval by the FRE Department capstone advisor, and finally, by OGS (Office of Global Services).

Deadlines

For Internship (Capstone or Elective) Credit: Students will need to do this by the add/ drop deadline for the term that they wish to intern. See the NYU Academic Calendar for exact dates.

For CPT: The OGS (Office of Global Services) website recommends that students should make the CPT request at least 10 business days before the start of the internship (which should be within the dates of that term). You must first be registered for course credit for your internship in order to get CPT. Students should refer to the Office of Global Services regarding specific details for CPT and contact the OGS directly with questions.

International students on an F1 Visa may intern after the completion of 2 full-time semesters as a student in the U.S. Most students intern: the summer between 1st and 2nd year and/or Fall or Spring Semester of 2nd year.

*Note: The internship dates must fall within the semester dates in Albert.

Tandon requires that all graduate students must have a grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.00, as reflected on their academic transcript, in order to intern.

Internship dates must fall within the dates of the academic term, and the number of hours worked should be at least 240 in total.

Internships taking place over the summer may be done on a full-time or part-time basis and should have a minimum length of 8 weeks.

Fall or spring term internships are normally part-time (up to 20 hrs/wk) and must take place over a period of at least 12 weeks.  

Students interning in their final semester of study and taking only 3 credits in addition to the internship are eligible to work a full-time (40 hr/wk) schedule. Requests to work full-time will need to be vetted by the Office of Graduate Academics to confirm that students are academically eligible to work full-time.

Guidelines for unpaid internships and volunteer work are set forth by the government. If you are considering doing an unpaid internship or volunteer work, please be sure to read the guidelines in the OGS website in detail to ensure you are in compliance with these guidelines.

As a student on a visa, you need to use CPT in order to work (whether paid, unpaid, full-time, part-time, etc). As such, you’ll need to use credits to do this.

At The End Of The Internship

An internship report must be presented to the advisor at the completion of the internship (due on the final day of the term, via email). The report should explain:  

  • Which courses and topics in the MSFE program that the internship was related to, and how they are related t
  • The tasks that were required of the student and the topics learned during the internship, both theoretical and practical
  • Main objective/goals of the internship
  • Obstacles/challenges encountered and how they were overcome
  • Technology and platforms use

More about the process for CPT, as well as information on OPT and other types of work authorization is available on the NYU OGS Website.