Kimley-Horn Internship 2027–2028: Programs, Deadlines & How to Apply

Last updated: October 2026

On 3 October 2026, Kimley-Horn had 220 internship postings open on its own careers board, one for each office and team, across 130 locations in 26 states and Puerto Rico. The first summer 2027 posting went up on 22 July, and 40 more were added between 28 September and 2 October. In plain words: you apply during 2026, you intern in summer 2027, and Kimley-Horn's summer 2027 postings are already live.

Kimley-Horn is an employee-owned civil engineering and planning firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with more than 11,000 employees. Its program is one of the largest in US engineering: more than 1,200 interns from 234 universities in summer 2026, and 84% of its 2025 interns received a full-time or returning-internship offer. Every posting is rolling and "may close at any time after a minimum of 3 days of being posted."

Quick Facts

Applications for summer 2027 are open now, office by office, with no published deadline. Offers are already going out, so apply to the offices you'd accept this month.

Externships are short, remote programs where you finish a real project for a real company, most often over 8 weeks. They work alongside a Kimley-Horn application, not instead of one: the Arceh Children's Environmental Health Analytics Externship builds the public-data analysis that planning and environmental interns do, and the Breaking Games Data Analysis Externship builds the spreadsheet and QC habits behind design calculations. Explore all Externships.

What Is a Kimley-Horn Internship?

A Kimley-Horn internship is a paid, on-site summer role on a client project team in one specific office, where interns "analyze, produce, and QC deliverables for our clients" and help with pre-construction design, planning and permitting. Most are civil engineering roles in land development, roadway, water, transportation or traffic; others cover landscape architecture, structural, electrical and planning.

Yello and WayUp ranked the program #1 in the US in 2025 and kept it in the Top 100 for 2026. The firm says more than 20% of its full-time employees started as interns.

When Do Kimley-Horn Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?

Kimley-Horn doesn't run one national wave. Each office posts its own requisition, and the summer 2027 postings have been rolling out since late July: 25 in July, 91 in August, 94 in September and 9 more in the first two days of October 2026. The median live posting went up on 28 August, about nine months before a typical late-May start.

Hiring moves just as early. On Reddit, applicants described second-round interviews in late August 2026, and a junior reported a summer 2027 offer at $28 an hour by 22 September with a decision due at the end of the month. Late openings still happen: in April 2026 an applicant was invited to a phone screen within a day.

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

Kimley-Horn's postings are rolling in the plain sense: every one of the 220 says applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and the posting "may close at any time after a minimum of 3 days of being posted." There's no closing date to plan around, and each office fills its own seats.

That makes timing about seats, not dates. Offices interviewed in August and made offers in September, and offer letters carry short decision windows. The longer you wait, the fewer seats are left in the offices you want. Apply as soon as you've picked them.

Which Kimley-Horn Internship Programs Should You Target?

Kimley-Horn runs one internship program, but each posting names a discipline and a team. Here's how the 220 live postings split on 3 October 2026:

Two fall/winter 2026 co-ops in Ocala and Jacksonville, Florida are also live for students in formal co-op programs. Browse everything on the internship board.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

The postings keep eligibility simple, with one firm line on work authorization:

• Degree: in the process of earning the degree the posting names; engineering roles require an ABET-accredited program (171 of 220 say so).

• GPA: not stated on any of the 220 postings.

• Class year: not stated on any posting.

• Work authorization: all 220 say applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. "without employer sponsorship" and that Kimley-Horn doesn't typically sponsor work visas.

• Work model: on site in the named office; 217 of 220 say "This is not a remote position."

Can You Apply to More Than One Office?

Each posting is a separate requisition for one office, so choosing offices is part of applying. The postings don't say whether there's a limit on how many you can apply to, so pick the ones you'd genuinely accept and check each posting.

Metros with several offices, such as Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Orlando and Phoenix, carry parallel postings for different teams.

What Skills Does Kimley-Horn Look For, and How Do You Build Them?

The postings share a common core: analyzing, producing and QC-ing client deliverables, plus pre-construction design, planning and permitting for civil roles. Electrical and structural postings add discipline work, from single-line diagrams to building design.

The software list is a shared line: "Interns will learn one or more software programs specific to their disciplines," naming AutoCAD, Revit, Civil 3D, Excel, MicroStation, VISSIM, OpenRoads, Synchro and GIS. Read it as what you'll use, not a prerequisite.

How Is Demand for Engineering Interns Moving Right Now?

Build These Skills Before You Apply

Three of the posting lines can be practiced before you apply or interview:

None of these is a civil design project. Each one trains a habit the postings reward and ends with finished work you can explain in an interview.

What Is the Kimley-Horn Application and Interview Process Like?

Kimley-Horn doesn't publish an intern interview guide. This is the path the postings and community reports describe:

1. Pick your offices. Each posting names one office and team; choose the ones where you'd actually spend the summer.

2. Recruiter phone screen. Applicants on Reddit describe a short introductory call about the firm and what you want to do.

3. In-person second round, about two hours. Two or three small groups from the team, one or two basic technical questions, then coffee or lunch with younger staff.

4. Offer with a short decision window. A summer 2027 offer in September 2026 came with an end-of-month deadline.

5. Summer check-ins and return offers. Interns report mid-summer check-ins before offers are decided.

The second round is mostly about fit. Be ready to explain your coursework, a project you've worked on and why you picked that office.

What Students on Reddit Say

Kimley-Horn comes up constantly on r/civilengineering, mostly about offers, interviews and hours.

How Do You Stand Out at Kimley-Horn?

Kimley-Horn runs a very large program (more than 1,200 interns in summer 2026), but it doesn't publish applicant numbers, so we won't guess at the odds. Three moves fit how it hires:

1. Apply to offices, early. Each office fills its own seats, and offers start in September. Pick the offices you'd accept and apply now.

2. Prepare for a fit interview. The second round is mostly conversation with the team. Know the office's practice areas, from land development to traffic, and have one project you can explain.

3. Treat the summer as the real interview. In 2025, 84% of interns received a full-time or returning-internship offer, per Kimley-Horn's August 2026 release. One intern on Reddit notes that after saying they wouldn't return, no offer evaluation was done, so say you're interested if you are.

What Other Companies Should You Consider?

Kimley-Horn applicants usually also look at other large design firms:

Our engineering internships summer 2027 guide covers the wider civil, transportation and construction field.

FAQ

Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Kimley-Horn internship?

No. Summer 2026 internships have ended, but summer 2027 applications are open now: 220 office postings were live on 3 October 2026, and more are still being added. Offices are already interviewing and making offers, so apply now rather than in spring if you can.

When do Kimley-Horn summer 2027 internship applications open?

They're already open. The first summer 2027 posting went up on 22 July 2026, most posted in August and September, and new ones were still appearing in early October. If this calendar repeats, postings for summer 2028 should start appearing around late July 2027.

Is there a deadline for Kimley-Horn internships?

No published deadline. Every posting says applications are accepted on an ongoing basis and that it may close any time after three days. Dates shown on job aggregators, such as a deadline a year out, come from an automatic one-year expiry on the posting, not from Kimley-Horn.

How much do Kimley-Horn interns make?

Where Kimley-Horn lists pay (60 of 220 postings, all in pay-transparency states), civil engineering interns earn $25 to $35 an hour. Bay Area offices are highest at $34 to $35; Spokane is lowest at $25 to $28. Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia postings don't list pay.

Does Kimley-Horn give interns full-time offers?

Often. Kimley-Horn says 84% of its more than 1,200 interns in 2025 received a full-time or returning-internship offer, and that more than 20% of its full-time staff started as interns. The 84% includes return internships, not only full-time jobs, and covers interns who were evaluated for an offer.

Does Kimley-Horn sponsor visas for interns?

No. All 220 live internship postings require U.S. work authorization without employer sponsorship and say Kimley-Horn doesn't typically sponsor H-1B or other work visas. The firm runs a separate visa-sponsorship search for some other roles, but no internship posting carries it, so plan on needing your own work authorization.

What majors does Kimley-Horn hire interns from?

Mostly ABET engineering majors: civil and environmental first, plus structural, electrical and mechanical. It also hires landscape architecture, planning (city, urban and transportation) and environmental science students, CAD and Revit drafters, and communications students for motion design and video roles in Raleigh.

What is the Kimley-Horn intern interview like?

Applicants on Reddit describe a short recruiter phone screen, then an in-person second round of about two hours. That round has two or three small team groups, one or two basic technical questions and coffee or lunch with younger staff. Expect it to focus on fit and your coursework.

Kimley-Horn's offices are making offers now, so apply to yours this month, then use the weeks before your interview to finish one project you can talk through: a remote Externship gives you that.