Viterbo receives grant to offer over 300 paid internships

The $441,758 grant covers the next three years

Viterbo University will continue to increase the number of paid internship opportunities offered to students thanks to a $441,758 grant.

The Career Ready Internship grant comes from the Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation.

Viterbo has received the grant the past two years and the company decided to expand it for another three years, which will offer over 300 paid internships to students over that time span.

A record $12 million has been awarded to 33 colleges and universities in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.

Businesses, especially small businesses, nonprofits and others that may not be able to afford to offer a paid internship, should benefit. La Crosse area businesses to host recent Viterbo interns include Catholic Charities, the Coulee Region Chill, Gundersen Health System and the La Crosse Loggers.

The Career Ready Internship program began as a $2.5-million pilot at 19 Wisconsin colleges during 2013-14, and led to $5.2 million in grants for 40 colleges across four states in 2014-15.