The Arizona Legislative Internship Program is an 18-week legislative internship experience offered during the spring semester, from January through May. Interns work full-time Monday-Friday from roughly 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. under mentorship from a legislative staff member. Interns elect to work in various positions at the Arizona State Senate or House of Representatives, as well as the Governor’s Office or with the Supreme Court.

During this time, duties of an ALIP intern may include: conducting research; writing summaries of bills; committee hearings; presenting bills in committees and caucus; preparing amendments; and communicating with legislators, liaisons of state agencies, lobbyists, constituents and members of the general public. The AZ Legislature hires around 60 interns per session to take part in the internship.

Interns may be placed in the Legislature, Governor’s Office or Supreme Court. However, all three placements are LEGISLATIVE internships. This means that interns in the Senate and House are in the midst of the action, taking part in the crafting of legislation. Interns placed in the other branches observe this work. The Senate and House each select approximately 20 interns. They analyze public policy either with a subject-area committee or the offices of the Republican Staff or Democratic Staff. Lastly, Senate and House interns participate directly in the legislative process, rather than monitoring the process as observers.

Students who wish to apply for the ALIP must be currently enrolled in a Bachelors or Master’s program, have a cumulative G.P.A of 3.0, and have completed 75 credit hours (typically juniors and seniors). In other words, if you take 15 credit hours per semester, you will need to have completed 5 semesters or be in the middle of your junior year before the start of the internship in the spring.

An outstanding ALIP candidate has strong communication and writing skills, the ability to work in a team setting and self-starting independence. Interns do not have to be political science majors or know anything about the legislative process; your supervisors will teach you everything you need to know. The most important attributes of an intern are enthusiasm, a willingness to learn through hands-on experience, and interest in the legislative process. Students from all academic disciplines are encouraged to apply.

Participating in the ALIP will require living in or near downtown Phoenix to be able to commute to and from the capitol during the week. NAU students who participate in the ALIP should either arrange to live with a friend or family member from January to May, or secure short-term housing in Phoenix near the capitol building. The Internship Coordinator at Career Development can help students find and arrange short-term housing if needed, as well as provide assistance on getting out of on or off campus housing contracts.

Interns who participate in the ALIP receive a stipend of $6,000, a tuition/fee waiver and earn up to 12 hours of undergraduate upper division credit or 9 hours of graduate credit upon successful completion of the internship. Students from outside Maricopa County are eligible to apply for reimbursement of qualified relocation expenses up to $1,000, with receipts.

To apply for this program, you must first schedule a 1-1 appointment with the Internship Coordinator of Career Development, who is the campus liaison for the program. Please schedule an appointment with Tyler Lawhead via Handshake or send an email to tyler.lawhead@nau.edu. You are not able to apply to this internship without the approval of the Career Development office.  

Please keep in mind that the ALIP requires each candidate to fill out an application that includes:

• The online Word application (you can download from the website and edit directly
• Two letters of recommendation
• One-page Personal statement
• Writing sample
• Transcripts (unofficial or official)

Students should prepare to apply for this program at least 6 months in advance due to the need to arrange housing in Phoenix if living in Flagstaff, as well as to practice interviews. The application deadline for the Spring 2025 session is September 20 by 5:00 p.m.