St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Internship 2027–2028: Programs, Deadlines & How to Apply

Last updated: October 2026

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital runs its best-known student program, the Pediatric Oncology Education (POE) internship, on a fixed calendar: summer-2027 applications open on 1 November 2026 and close on 1 February 2027. POE pays $600 a week with free group housing for students from outside Memphis, took 40 students in 2026, and has trained more than 1,600 since 1978. In plain words: you apply this fall and winter, you intern in summer 2027.

One St. Jude track is open right now (3 October 2026): the Healthcare Administration Graduate Student Internship, which closes at 11:59 pm CST on Monday, 19 October 2026. ALSAC, St. Jude's fundraising and awareness organization, opens its paid summer internships in November.

Quick Facts

Graduate students in healthcare management have about two weeks; undergraduates have four weeks to prepare before POE and ALSAC open in November.

Externships are short, remote project programs run by Extern, separate from St. Jude's own programs. Most run 8 weeks at 5–10 hours a week, so one fits before the POE deadline. The Arceh Children's Environmental Health Analytics Externship gives you a finished pediatric health-data project, and the Healthcare Operations Consulting Externship builds the operational analysis St. Jude's healthcare administration interns do. Explore all Externships.

What Is a St. Jude Internship?

A St. Jude internship is a paid summer program at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, a pediatric research hospital founded in 1962, or at ALSAC, the separate organization that raises its funds. Which one you mean matters, because each has its own application system and calendar.

POE is the research flagship. Students are matched with a faculty mentor in laboratory or clinical research, attend a daily Lunch & Learn series, and finish with a PowerPoint presentation and a written report "in the style of a journal in which their mentor publishes." The healthcare administration internship puts graduate students on financial, strategic and operational projects ending in a presentation to senior leadership. Information Services places undergraduates on IT teams, and ALSAC hires interns in fundraising, marketing, finance, data and IT.

When Do St. Jude Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?

St. Jude publishes summer-2027 dates program by program. The POE page says applications open 1 November 2026 and that applications and all credentials are due 1 February 2027. The healthcare administration page says its summer-2027 portal is open and closes at 11:59 pm CST on 19 October 2026, with a last webinar on 8 October. ALSAC's page lists applications from November to January. Information Services still shows its 2026 cycle, which closed on 8 December 2025, so its 2027 window is a projection.

That's a lead time of about 6 to 7 months from POE's opening to a May or June start. St. Jude's Workday boards show no intern postings today, which is expected: hospital programs apply through CollegeNET, and ALSAC posts its roles in November.

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

These are hard deadlines. The healthcare administration page says that after 19 October, "applications and edits to applications will not be accepted." POE's deadline covers your application and every credential, and POE warns that students who apply after 1 January run a high risk of missing credentials by the deadline.

So for POE, the first week matters because of letters, not because seats fill early. St. Jude asks you to submit without waiting for recommenders and to have everything in by mid-to-late December. Applying on 1 November gives your references six weeks.

Which St. Jude Internship Programs Should You Target?

Pick by degree level and field. POE is research only, the healthcare administration internship is graduate only, and ALSAC is the place for business and marketing students.

The full list, including smaller programs, is on St. Jude's internships page.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements?

POE has the strictest rules of any St. Jude program:

• Citizenship: US citizen, non-citizen national or permanent resident. St. Jude says "A student visa is not sufficient."

• GPA: at least 3.4 in sciences and math and 3.4 overall, for every applicant including medical and pharmacy students.

• Experience and year: relevant research experience outside the classroom before you apply; 18 or older and finished sophomore year by the start.

• Healthcare administration: currently enrolled graduate students (MBA, MHA or similar); dual-degree students qualify if they hold the bachelor's equivalent by May 2027.

• Information Services and Internal Audit: 3.0 GPA; Information Services takes rising sophomores to seniors.

Is the GPA a Hard Cutoff?

For POE, yes, and the bar sits well above it in practice: St. Jude reports that the 52 students in its 2025 class averaged a 3.88 undergraduate GPA. The 3.4 floor applies to both your science and math GPA and your overall GPA.

Citizenship is the other hard gate. F-1 students can't apply to POE, so look at ALSAC or the hospital's other programs, which don't state the same rule.

What Skills Does St. Jude Look For, and How Do You Build Them?

We read five St. Jude program pages in full: POE, healthcare administration, Information Services, Biostatistics and Internal Audit. ALSAC posts its role descriptions in November, so it isn't in the count.

Communication tops the list: all five ask for it, from POE's journal-style report to the written and verbal skills the administrative and IT pages list. Four want data analysis, four ask for analytical problem-solving, and four set a GPA floor. Programming shows up only in Information Services and Biostatistics.

How Is Demand for Research Interns Moving Right Now?

Build These Skills Before You Apply

Each skill maps to a remote Externship you can finish before the POE and ALSAC deadlines.

For POE in particular, a finished project counts toward the research experience St. Jude requires and gives your PI interview something specific to discuss.

What Is the St. Jude Application and Interview Process Like?

Each route has its own steps:

1. POE. Apply through the CollegeNET form on stjude.org from 1 November. Submit without waiting for your recommenders and aim to have all credentials in by mid-to-late December.

2. POE interviews. Past participants on Reddit said interviews were run by individual faculty investigators, who asked them to describe their own research in detail and discuss the investigator's lab.

3. Healthcare administration. Cover letter, resume and graduate transcript as PDFs by 19 October, then committee review, a phone screen and a virtual panel with St. Jude leaders. Offers go out December to January.

4. ALSAC. Apply to posted roles from November to January, then a HireVue video interview, a hiring-manager interview in January or February, final selection in March and a background check.

5. Information Services. Last cycle took a cover letter, resume and one reference letter, with up to three teams per application and virtual interviews in late November and early December.

What Students on Reddit Say

POE alumni and Memphis employees on Reddit cover logistics, interviews and what working at St. Jude is like.

How Do You Stand Out for a St. Jude Internship?

Three moves for POE, all doable before 1 November.

Know your own research cold. POE requires research experience before you apply, and interviews are run by investigators who ask you to explain it in depth. Be ready to say what question you worked on, what you did yourself and what went wrong.

Name the labs you want. POE matches you with a faculty mentor across 22 departments. Read two or three faculty pages and explain why their work fits yours.

Get your letters in early. St. Jude asks for credentials by mid-to-late December, ahead of the 1 February deadline. One last tip from Memphis employees: write "St. Jude", not "St. Jude's". St. Jude doesn't publish an applicant count or an acceptance rate for any program.

What Other Companies Should You Consider?

These research hospitals and institutes run comparable summer programs.

Our healthcare internships guide for summer 2027 covers more hospitals and research programs.

FAQ

Can I still apply for a summer 2026 St. Jude internship?

No. Summer 2026 programs have ended. Summer 2027 is the cycle now: the Healthcare Administration Graduate Student Internship is open until 11:59 pm CST on 19 October 2026, POE opens on 1 November 2026, and ALSAC's paid summer internships open in November and take applications into January.

When do St. Jude POE applications open for summer 2027?

On 1 November 2026, closing on 1 February 2027. The deadline covers your application and all credentials, and St. Jude encourages applicants to have everything in by mid-to-late December. You must be able to start on 10, 17 or 24 May or 1 June 2027.

Is the St. Jude POE internship paid?

Yes. POE pays a monthly subsistence allowance equal to $600 a week before taxes. Students from outside the Memphis area get group housing near campus at no cost, but family housing isn't provided and travel to Memphis is the participant's responsibility.

Can international students apply to St. Jude's POE program?

No. POE requires US citizenship, non-citizen national status or permanent residence, and St. Jude states that a student visa isn't sufficient. Applicants must also be full-time students at a US school. International students should look at ALSAC or St. Jude's other internships, which don't state the same rule.

What GPA does St. Jude POE require?

At least 3.4 on a 4.0 scale in sciences and math and at least 3.4 overall, for every applicant including medical, pharmacy and graduate students. In practice the bar is higher: St. Jude reports that its 52-student 2025 class averaged a 3.88 undergraduate GPA.

How many students does St. Jude's POE program accept?

The 2026 class had 40 members: 26 undergraduates, 12 medical students, one graduate student and one PharmD student, including six returning participants. The 2025 class had 52 members from 41 schools. St. Jude doesn't publish applicant numbers, so no acceptance rate is available.

How much does the St. Jude healthcare administration internship pay?

$2,946 a month as of fall 2026, according to St. Jude's program page, which notes the amount can change. Non-local students get housing at no cost and parking is free. The 12-week internship runs 17 May to 6 August 2027 in Memphis, and applications close on 19 October 2026.

Is ALSAC the same as St. Jude?

No. ALSAC is the fundraising and awareness organization for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, with its own careers site and culture. Its paid 10-week summer internships cover fundraising, marketing, communications, finance, data and IT, open in November and run from early June to mid-August.

St. Jude's summer-2027 windows open within weeks. Use October to build proof: a remote Externship gives your POE or ALSAC application a finished project to describe.