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

Last updated: October 2026

There's no single Smithsonian internship. Each museum, research center and office runs its own program, with its own term, deadline and stipend, and the central Office of Academic Appointments and Internships lists 37 programs that all take applications through one system, SOLAA. For summer 2027 the plain-words version is this: you apply between December 2026 and March 2027, you intern in summer 2027. The first big window is the National Air and Space Museum, which opens December 1, 2026, closes January 31, 2027 and pays an $8,000 stipend for May 31 to August 6, 2027.

Some doors are open right now, though. The National Museum of African American History and Culture's spring 2027 internships close on October 15, 2026 and pay $425 to $850 a week, and the National Museum of the American Indian takes winter/spring applications until November 15.

Quick Facts

Spring 2027 is the open door today (NMAAHC closes October 15, 2026); summer 2027 windows start December 1, 2026 at Air and Space and run to March 15, 2027 at NMAI.

Externships are short, remote programs where you finish a real project for a real company, and they fit neatly into the gap before January essays are due. The Khan Academy Strategic Partnerships & Earned Revenue Externship builds the education and development skills that the Smithsonian's education offices tag most often, and the TikTok Social Media Content & Brand Strategy Externship builds the audience and content work behind its public affairs internships.

What Is a Smithsonian Internship?

A Smithsonian internship is a paid or stipended placement inside one of the Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums, research centers and offices or the National Zoo, chosen and supervised by that unit. The central office "coordinates central management and administration for internships, fellowships, and research associates" across the Institution, according to internships.si.edu, but each unit picks its own interns.

The range is wide. Air and Space places summer interns in curatorial, conservation, education, exhibits and visitor services. NMAAHC's spring 2027 list includes music and performing arts curatorial work, an oral history project, marketing and interpretive research. Smaller programs cover sponsored-projects administration, law, science writing and field biology in Panama.

When Do Smithsonian Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?

The Smithsonian doesn't run one recruiting season. Units post their own windows, and many run spring, summer and fall terms, so the lead time is short: NMAI's deadlines fall roughly two to three months before each term starts, and Air and Space opens about six months before its May 31, 2027 start. Last cycle followed the same shape. Summer 2026 deadlines sat between January 2 (Asian Art student program) and March 20, 2026 (Natural History high school program), with decisions reported in late March and early April.

Spring is the nearer door. Spring 2027 applications at NMAAHC close October 15, 2026, and NMAI's winter/spring term closes November 15.

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

Every Smithsonian window this page lists has a hard, published deadline, and SOLAA takes nothing after it. NMAAHC says materials must be in "no later than October 15, 2026"; Air and Space says all submissions "must be completed by the annual deadline of January 31."

Week one still matters, for two reasons. Letters of recommendation are uploaded by your referees through a SOLAA link, and a late letter sinks an otherwise finished application. At least one program can also close before its date: the 2026 Women's History Internship window ran to February 12, 2026 "OR when 200 applications have been received, whichever comes first", for four intern slots.

The cluster of February deadlines also tempts people to apply everywhere at once. Pick fewer units and write a specific statement for each.

Which Smithsonian Internship Programs Should You Target?

These are the programs with the clearest published 2026–27 dates. Each is a separate application in SOLAA.

The full list, including science programs at SERC and the National Zoo, sits on the Smithsonian opportunities page. Pages that still show a 2025 or 2026 date haven't rolled over yet, so check the unit's own site before you assume a window is closed.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

There's no Institution-wide rule. Each program page sets its own, and these are the patterns across the 37 pages:

• Level: most programs take undergraduates, graduate students and recent graduates. Air and Space accepts recent grads up to 12 months out; NMAAHC wants at least one completed year of college and takes grads up to two years out. Lemelson is graduate-only and the Office of General Counsel takes law students.

• Citizenship: 22 of 37 program pages carry "No Citizenship Requirement" and Air and Space says "Open to U.S. and non-U.S citizens". Six, including the Office of General Counsel, require U.S. citizenship or permanent residence.

• GPA: no Institution-wide floor. NMAI says a 3.0 is "generally expected"; the Women's History Internship requires 3.0 or higher.

• Repeat interns: NMAAHC won't consider anyone who has already interned or held a fellowship there.

• Housing: usually not provided. SERC offers an on-site dorm for most interns and the National Zoo's REU covers room and board.

Is the GPA a Hard Cutoff?

Only where a page says so. Women's History states a 3.0 minimum, so treat that one as firm. NMAI's wording is softer ("generally expected", with withdrawals and incompletes explained), which leaves room for a strong statement to carry a lower number. Most other pages, including Air and Space and NMAAHC, don't mention GPA at all and weigh the essay, references and project fit instead. A 2.9 isn't a reason to skip Air and Space or NMAAHC, but it does rule out Women's History.

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

Smithsonian program pages tag each internship with the functions it covers, which is the closest thing to a skills list the Institution publishes. Across the 28 pages that carry those tags, education and writing lead, followed by curatorial, research and collections work.

The three buckets look like this. Research and writing: every program asks for a statement, and Air and Space expects "a base knowledge of or familiarity with the subject." Collections and archives: cataloguing, archival processing and collections management appear across history and art units. Public-facing work: education, visitor services, public affairs and social media show up nearly as often as curatorial.

How Is Demand for Research and Science Interns Moving Right Now?

Build These Skills Before You Apply

Each top tag maps to a remote Externship you can finish before the December and February windows. None of these is affiliated with the Smithsonian.

A finished project gives your SOLAA statement something concrete to describe, which is exactly what Smithsonian reviewers on Reddit say generic "passion" paragraphs lack.

What Is the Smithsonian Application and Interview Process Like?

The mechanics are the same in every unit because everything runs through SOLAA. Selection is where units differ.

1. Choose the unit and program on internships.si.edu and note its deadline, term and citizenship rule.

2. Create a SOLAA account, click Start Application, search for the program name and click Apply Now.

3. Upload materials: resume, unofficial transcripts and a statement (Air and Space asks 500 to 1,000 words on why this internship and how it advances your goals). Referees upload letters through a SOLAA link, so check they've received it.

4. Pick projects with care. Air and Space lets you choose up to three, and those choices decide who reviews your application.

5. Unit review and interviews. Some units interview and some decide on paper; Reddit applicants reported Air and Space interviews by early March 2026.

6. Notification through SOLAA. Published dates: NMAAHC spring by November 13, 2026; Claudine K. Brown by March 19, 2027; APAC March 26, 2027; Air and Space the last week of March.

Watch your SOLAA status, which often changes before the email arrives.

What Students on Reddit Say

Applicants and a few Smithsonian staff discuss the process openly on museum and DC subreddits.

How Do You Stand Out for a Smithsonian Internship?

Nobody publishes an Institution-wide selectivity figure. The clearest numbers come from small programs: the Women's History Internship hosted four interns in 2026 and capped applications at 200, and the Office of General Counsel takes up to two law students a semester. No unit publishes an acceptance rate.

Three moves help. First, apply to a unit, not to "the Smithsonian." Name the department, a collection or exhibition you've studied, and what you'd contribute.

Second, spread your bets across the calendar. A spring 2027 application due October 15 or November 15 costs little extra effort and gets you a decision months before the summer cycle.

Third, match the project, not the brand. Commenters on Reddit point out that interns come from business, design and fire safety backgrounds as well as art history, and units with in-house design teams want illustration and exhibit skills.

What Other Companies Should You Consider?

Applicants for Smithsonian internships usually weigh other federal and cultural institutions, plus a few employers with similar audiences.

Our government internships guide for summer 2027 covers the wider set of federal and public-sector programs and their deadlines.

FAQ

Can I still apply for a summer 2026 Smithsonian internship?

No. Summer 2026 programs have ended, and their deadlines passed between January and March 2026. What's open now is spring 2027: NMAAHC closes October 15, 2026 and NMAI's winter/spring term closes November 15. The Graduate Research Administration internship closed September 30. Summer 2027 opens with Air and Space on December 1, 2026.

When do Smithsonian summer 2027 internship applications open?

It depends on the unit. Air and Space opens December 1, 2026 and closes January 31, 2027. Education Technology opens December 15, 2026 and APAC on January 1, 2027. Most other summer 2027 deadlines fall between February 1 and March 15, 2027, ending with NMAI's summer term on March 15.

Are Smithsonian internship deadlines rolling?

Mostly no. Each program sets a fixed deadline and SOLAA closes at that time. The Office of General Counsel is the exception, reviewing law-student applications on a rolling basis within its window. Some can also close early: the 2026 Women's History Internship window was set to end at 200 applications if that came before its February 12 deadline.

Are Smithsonian internships paid?

Many are, with amounts published per program. Air and Space pays an $8,000 stipend for summer 2027, NMAAHC pays $425 to $850 a week for spring 2027, and the 2026 Women's History Internship paid $1,200 a week plus travel. SERC pays $700 a week with dorm housing. Some pages only say stipends are available.

Do I need to be a U.S. citizen for a Smithsonian internship?

Usually not. Of the 37 programs listed on internships.si.edu, 22 say "No Citizenship Requirement", and Air and Space is open to U.S. and non-U.S. citizens. About six programs, including the Office of General Counsel internship, require U.S. citizenship or permanent residence, so check each page before you apply.

What GPA do Smithsonian internships require?

There's no Institution-wide minimum. The Women's History Internship requires a 3.0 GPA, and NMAI says a 3.0 is generally expected, with withdrawals and incompletes explained. Air and Space and NMAAHC don't list a GPA, so your statement, references and project choices carry more weight there than your transcript.

How do I apply and when will I hear back?

You apply in SOLAA: create an account, search for the program and click Apply Now, then upload a resume, transcripts and a statement while referees upload letters. Summer decisions usually arrive in late March, with Air and Space notifying the last week of March and APAC on March 26, 2027.

Does a Smithsonian internship lead to a full-time job?

Not directly. No unit publishes an intern-to-staff conversion rate, and Smithsonian staff jobs are posted separately on USAJOBS under federal hiring rules. A former intern on Reddit says later placements were much easier to set up after meeting staff, so one internship can lead to another, and to the contacts who see staff openings first.

Smithsonian windows open unit by unit from now until March. Spend the gap before December building proof: a remote Externship gives your SOLAA statement a finished project to talk about.