ACLU Internship 2027–2028: Programs, Deadlines & How to Apply

Last updated: October 2026

The ACLU's summer 2027 internships are open right now. On September 28, 2026, the national office posted a wave of internships on its internships page: 23 summer 2027 roles (20 for law students, 3 for undergraduates), 18 spring 2027 roles, and the ACLU-NBLSA Southern Legal Internship Program, 42 in all as of October 3, 2026. Summer 2027 legal interns get a $24-an-hour stipend and undergraduates $20 an hour, per the ACLU's own postings. In plain words: you apply during fall 2026, you intern in summer 2027.

But "the ACLU" is really two hiring systems. The national office in New York and Washington posts on aclu.org. The state affiliates, such as the ACLU of Virginia or the ACLU of Michigan, hire separately on their own sites, with their own pay and deadlines, and two of them have already closed for summer 2027.

Quick Facts

The window row is the one to read twice: national roles review on a rolling basis after each priority date, while several affiliates set hard deadlines and two have already passed.

Extern's Externships aren't the law-school externships some ACLU affiliates offer for course credit. They're short, remote programs where you finish a real project for a real organization, usually in about 8 weeks at 5 to 10 hours a week. The Arceh Children's Environmental Health Analytics Externship builds public-interest research with real data, and the TikTok Social Media Content & Brand Strategy Externship builds the advocacy communication skills behind know-your-rights work. Explore all Externships.

What Is an ACLU Internship?

An ACLU internship is a paid or for-credit placement with the American Civil Liberties Union, the civil rights organization that has worked "for more than 100 years" to defend constitutional rights, either at the national office or at one of its state affiliates. National internships sit inside specific legal projects, such as the Voting Rights Project, the Immigrants' Rights Project, the National Prison Project and the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, and the ACLU says it offers "year-round remote and hybrid internship opportunities."

And the work is substantive. The summer 2027 legal reqs ask for interns who can do legal and factual research, support litigation and "conduct complex legal analysis and fact finding." The ACLU-NBLSA Southern Legal Internship Program, a partnership with the National Black Law Students Association, places one law student at each of 13 Southern affiliates for 10 weeks and pays $8,400.

When Do ACLU Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?

For the national office, the answer is already in: the summer 2027 and spring 2027 waves went up together on September 28, 2026. Each posting carries its own priority deadline, and they're spread across about two months, from October 14 for the Immigrants' Rights Project to December 11 for the National Prison Project. Some projects set an earlier date for 2L students and a later one for 1Ls.

So think of it as a rolling program with soft checkpoints. The affiliates are a different story. The ACLU-DC's 2L deadline was September 27 and the ACLU of New Hampshire's was September 12, both already gone, while the ACLU of Virginia closes October 7. From a late-September posting to a late-May start, the national lead time is about 8 months.

How to read this page: our dates come from tracking previous recruiting cycles and daily posting data. Treat them as informed estimates based on historical patterns, not confirmed dates. The company's official careers page is always the most current source. If a role is posted there, go by that, even if this page suggests the window hasn't opened yet.

Why You Must Apply the Week Applications Open

The national program is rolling, not deadline-only. Every summer 2027 legal req says the project is "committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting," and each sets a priority deadline. Read that as: the ACLU reads applications as they arrive, and a role can fill before the posting comes down.

That matters even when a priority date is weeks away, because law students on Reddit call ACLU internships "unicorn" public-interest positions, and a project with one or two summer slots doesn't need to wait for its priority date to find strong candidates.

So apply in the first week a project's posting is up, and treat the priority date as the last safe day, not the target. For affiliates, check each one: the ACLU of Virginia's October 7 date is a hard cutoff.

Which ACLU Internship Programs Should You Target?

The national office posts one req per project and term. Here are the main summer 2027 options, plus the affiliate route.

Every national posting links from the ACLU internships page, which also points to each state affiliate's jobs page.

But don't stop at the national list. Dozens of state affiliates run their own internships, and law students on Reddit describe them as less selective than the national office.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

The national summer 2027 reqs share a template, and the affiliates add their own rules:

• Enrollment: national legal roles require "matriculated legal students"; the undergraduate roles require "matriculated undergraduate students."

• Class year (legal): several projects, including Voting Rights and Speech, Privacy and Technology, are open to students who have completed their 1L year or are in an LLM program. Some projects set separate 1L and 2L priority dates.

• Location: you must be "based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship."

• Stipend eligibility: the stipend goes to "students who are lawfully authorized to work," and students with outside funding get a partial stipend that tops them up to the ACLU's rate.

• Southern Legal Internship: current law students graduating no earlier than December 2027, with NBLSA or BLSA membership and a writing sample of up to 10 pages.

Is There a GPA Cutoff for ACLU Internships?

Not on any posting we checked. None of the 42 national postings or the affiliate posts we opened lists a GPA. What they do list is commitment: the Voting Rights req, for example, asks for a proven commitment to "public interest law, civil liberties, and racial justice" and prefers "familiarity with or previous experience working on voting rights issues."

So the real screen is evidence that you care about the specific project's issue. That's why a generic application sent to every project at once tends to read weakly.

What Skills Does the ACLU Look For, and How Do You Build Them?

We read all 23 national summer 2027 postings in full. Most share one template, with project-specific lines added on top.

Research and analysis. Fifteen ask for "excellent research skills" and 13 for internet and legal database research. The Voting Rights req adds the ability to "conduct complex legal analysis and fact finding."

Communication and organization. Twenty-one ask for communication skills, and 13 list attention to detail plus "excellent organizing and time-management skills." Eighteen want Microsoft Office proficiency.

Commitment to the issue. Every posting asks interns to be committed to the ACLU's mission and to work collaboratively, and 12 add a project-specific interest or experience line.

The takeaway: the ACLU tests for competence through your materials and for commitment through your story.

How Is Demand for Policy and Legal Interns Moving Right Now?

Build These Skills Before You Apply

And each skill in the chart maps to a remote Externship where you finish a real project before your interview.

Undergraduates aiming at the National Prison or National Security projects get the most from a research project; law students already have legal research and gain more from a finished advocacy or analysis deliverable.

What Is the ACLU Application and Interview Process Like?

Each national posting runs through Greenhouse, and each affiliate uses its own form. Here's the general shape:

1. Pick the project, not just the organization. National roles are posted per project and term, and each has its own priority date and preferred experience.

2. Submit your materials. Expect a resume and cover letter; the Voting Rights req makes a writing sample optional, while the Southern Legal Internship requires one of up to 10 pages.

3. Line up outside funding. Legal stipends are partial if your law school funds you, and some affiliates fund only students who can't get school funding.

4. Interview. Past applicants say interviewers probe genuine commitment to the cause and any civil-rights or nonprofit experience (community-reported).

Timing varies by project. One 1L on Reddit who applied to national roles on December 1 heard nothing back, which fits the rolling model: by December, many projects have reviewed their strongest early applicants.

What Students on Reddit Say

Law students talk about ACLU internships a lot, and most threads circle the same two themes: how hard they are to get, and how to make the money work.

How Do You Stand Out for an ACLU Internship?

The ACLU doesn't publish an applicant count, so there's no honest acceptance rate to quote. Here's what the postings and past applicants point to.

First, apply to specific projects with specific reasons. The Voting Rights req prefers "familiarity with or previous experience working on voting rights issues." A cover letter that names the project's docket and your related work beats one sent to every project unchanged.

Second, apply early in the rolling window. Priority dates are checkpoints, and reviewers read applications as they arrive.

Third, widen the net to affiliates and the Southern Legal Internship. Affiliates hire separately and, per law students, less competitively, and the Southern Legal Internship lets you rank affiliates in one application.

And if summer doesn't work out, look at spring. The 18 spring 2027 national roles are credit-only but use the same projects, and past applicants describe term-time work as a real way in.

What Other Companies Should You Consider?

Civil rights legal nonprofits recruit the same students, and a few published guides cover nearby public-interest paths:

Our nonprofit and social impact internships summer 2027 guide covers the wider public-interest field.

FAQ

Can I still apply for a summer 2026 ACLU internship?

No. Summer 2026 has already run. The open door is summer 2027: the national office posted 23 summer roles on September 28, 2026, with priority deadlines from October 14 to December 11. Some affiliates have already closed, including ACLU-DC on September 27 and ACLU of New Hampshire on September 12.

When are ACLU summer 2027 internship deadlines?

It depends on the project and the office. National summer 2027 roles have priority deadlines from October 14 to December 11, 2026, with rolling review after. The Southern Legal Internship's priority date is November 1 and final date November 22. ACLU of Virginia closes October 7; ACLU of Michigan by January 29, 2027.

Are ACLU internships paid?

Summer ones usually are. National summer 2027 legal interns get $24 an hour and undergraduates $20 an hour, taxed and reduced if you have outside funding. The Southern Legal Internship pays $8,400. Spring 2027 national legal internships are course credit only, and each affiliate sets its own pay.

Can undergraduates intern at the ACLU?

Yes. The national office has three summer 2027 undergraduate roles, in the National Prison Project, the National Security Project, and the Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, each paying $20 an hour for 10 full-time weeks. Applicants must be matriculated undergraduates based in the US for the whole internship.

What's the difference between the national ACLU and state affiliates?

They hire separately. The national office posts project-based internships on aclu.org through Greenhouse. Each state affiliate, such as the ACLU of Virginia or of Michigan, posts its own internships on its own website, with its own deadlines, pay and eligibility rules. Apply to both if you can.

Are ACLU internships remote?

Many national ones are. Most summer 2027 national postings are listed as remote or hybrid, based in New York, Washington DC, San Francisco or Durham, North Carolina, though a few are hybrid only. Interns must be based in the US throughout. Affiliates set their own policies; Virginia's is hybrid from Richmond.

How competitive are ACLU internships?

Very, especially at the national office. Law students on Reddit call them "unicorn" public-interest positions, and one 1L who applied on December 1 never heard back. Commenters describe state affiliates as less selective, so a strong strategy combines specific national projects with your state affiliate.

What if I've already graduated from college?

Look at the ACLU's Pauli Murray Fellowship instead of an internship. It's an 18-month, full-time entry-level fellowship for recent college graduates, paying $78,000 a year and starting in mid-January 2027, with roles on the communications and EDIB teams posted on the ACLU's staff board.

Pick your projects this week and apply before their priority dates. While you wait to hear back, build proof: a remote Externship gives you a finished research or advocacy project to discuss in an ACLU interview.