Employment Aid Readiness Network
(EARN) Indiana
Funds for eligible interns and internships in Indiana
Work and Learn Indiana is pleased to be working with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) to facilitate EARN Indiana, a revamp of the state work-study program.
About EARN
Employers with an approved internship may receive state matching funds by hiring students, eligible to receive state financial aid, for a resume-building, experiential, paid internship. CHE is partnering with Work and Learn Indiana to better match students and employers to maximize each student's academic success and career achievement and to assist employers in finding the perfect fit for their team.
The Employment Aid Readiness Network (EARN) Indiana is an experiential learning internship program administered by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE) in partnership with Work and Learn Indiana (WLI). It is designed to provide financial assistance to employers who provide paid internships for qualified Hoosier students currently enrolled full or part-time in a post-secondary education program.
EARN Indiana was established in 2013 under Indiana Code 21-16-2.
A qualified internship position must meet a specific set of criteria, including:
- Internship must provide experiential learning ( Click here for details on what constitutes "experiential learning")
- Internship must be paid
- Internship must be at least 8 weeks long
- Intern must work 12 to 20 hours a week during the academic year (August 16 through April 26) or 12 to 40 hours during the summer (April 27 - August 15)
- Intern activities may not be political or sectarian in nature
- No more than 25% of intern's work can be administrative in nature
- No more than 50% of your workforce may be interns
- Federal Work-Study funds or other grant funds may not be received for the internship position.
EARN Indiana internships can happen all year long. However, the internship must last at least 8 weeks and cannot exceed a year in length.
Employers
Get up to 50% matching funds for each eligible internship
Each internship you post can be considered for reimbursement. After you've created a Work and Learn Indiana account, you'll have the opportunity to fill out an EARN Indiana application as you're posting your internship. This application will be sent to the Commission for Higher Education. You will receive an email from CHE within approximately 5 business days regarding the status of your internship and with instructions on how to proceed.
To see if your internship is eligible, complete three simple steps:
- Register as an employer on Work and Learn Indiana
- Create an internship posting
- After selecting your internship is paid on the first page of details, under "would you like to utilize EARN Indiana funding?" select "yes"
- This will bring up a new EARN Indiana Application section next to the Skills and Description tabs toward the top of the page. Fill it out along with the rest of the position details, then click "submit for review"
- Once your position is approved to appear on our site, this triggers the submission of the EARN application to the Commission for Higher Education
Internship Eligibility Criteria
In order to receive matching funds, certain minimum criteria must be met:
- Internship must provide experiential learning
- Internship must be paid
- Internship must be at least 8 weeks
- Intern must work 12 to 20 hours a week during academic year (12 to 40 hours during summer)
- Intern activities may not be political or sectarian
- No more than 25% of intern’s work can be administrative in nature.
- No more than 50% of your workforce may be interns
- Federal Work-Study funds or other grants may not be received for the internship position
All internships must last at least 8 weeks and no longer than one year in order to be eligible for EARN Indiana.
Students
Find out if you're eligible to receive EARN Indiana funds by clicking on the EARN Indiana banner at the top of your Student Dashboard and completing the short form. By answering just a few simple questions, you'll instantly learn your eligibility status.
Student Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for an EARN Indiana internship, a student must:
- Be an Indiana resident
- Not have a bachelor’s degree prior to the term a student plans to work (However, an intern can work and qualify for EARN Indiana in the semester immediately following graduation).
A student must also:
- Be enrolled full time or part time at an eligible Indiana college or university and have an Expected Family Contribution (as determined by the FAFSA from the current academic year) less than or equal to $24,570
Each eligible intern and internship will be designated with the EARN Indiana logo to help both parties make more informed decisions about their positions.