Last updated: November 2026
This guide is about working for Minnesota's state agencies, not the University of Minnesota or a city or county. The State hires students on its own job board, careers.mn.gov, under one job family, "Student Worker & Internships". On November 12, 2026 that filter showed 8 postings out of 362 open jobs, and one of the 8 was an AmeriCorps member role. Most paid roles are student-worker jobs at $18.15 to $24.02 an hour, not credit-bearing internships. Two summer 2027 doors matter most: MnDOT's Civil Engineering Student Worker Program is open now and its posting says interviews start in November 2026, and the DNR posts its summer internships in January. In plain words: you apply between now and spring 2027, and you work in summer 2027.
Quick Facts
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Where to apply | careers.mn.gov: filter Job Family to "Student Worker & Internships" rather than searching the word "intern". The Governor's Office internship page takes applications by email |
| Application window (2027–28) | Open now for summer 2027: MnDOT Civil Engineering Student Worker Program, listed closing date 03/05/2027 but open only until positions are filled. DNR summer 2027: expected in January 2027. Student-worker jobs: posted all year, each open about 2 to 4 weeks. Governor's Office spring and summer 2027: not posted yet |
| Rolling? | MnDOT's program fills on a rolling basis (applications September through May or until filled). Agency student-worker postings each have their own short window, for example November 9 to November 23, 2026 at the Health Department |
| Eligibility | Student workers: enrolled (or enrolling within three months) in a post-secondary or graduate program, at least six semester or nine quarter credits. Internships: must earn academic credit. Some student-worker jobs are open to secondary students. GPA: only MnDOT mentions one (3.0 preferred on the 2027 posting) |
| Duration | MnDOT program May 19 to August 27, 2027, up to 40 hrs/week. DNR internships 20 to 40 hrs/week in summer. Student-worker jobs part-time, often 20 hrs/week. Governor's Office fall, spring and summer sessions, at least 12 to 15 hrs/week |
| Compensation | Student Worker Paraprofessional $18.15 to $21.26/hr; Senior $20.20 to $24.02/hr (scale as of July 1, 2026). DNR internships $19.00/hr on the DNR's page. Governor's Office internships are unpaid |
| Return offers | No conversion rate is published. MnDOT says students may qualify for another student worker or temporary MnDOT job after the program, and graduating seniors can apply to its Graduate Engineer and Land Surveyor Training Program |
| Locations | Most student postings are in the Twin Cities (St. Paul, Minneapolis, Roseville). MnDOT and DNR roles run statewide. Telework varies by posting, from hybrid to on-site |
| # Programs | No central program. Main doors: agency student-worker jobs, MnDOT's Civil Engineering Student Worker Program, DNR summer internships and the Governor's Office Internship Program |
The row that matters most: MnDOT's summer 2027 engineering program is open now and fills as it goes, and DNR summer 2027 internships are expected on careers.mn.gov in January 2027.
While you wait for the January postings, Externships are short, remote projects you finish for a real organization, most often in 8 weeks at 5 to 10 hours a week. Health Research & Data Analytics with ARCeH builds the public-health data work in the Health Department's student postings, and the SQL & Database Architecture Externship with Breaking Games builds the SQL that the Education Department's data analytics posting asked for. Explore all Externships.
What Is a State of Minnesota Internship?
A State of Minnesota internship is a placement with an executive-branch agency, and most paid ones are really student-worker jobs. The State draws a line between the two. Minnesota Management and Budget says internship candidates "must receive academic credit for the experience from your school", while "student workers do not need to receive academic credit" but must stay enrolled. Agencies post their own roles on careers.mn.gov, which covers "more than 100 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges, and universities". Agencies with student postings in November 2026 included the Health Department, the Education Department, Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) and the Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) alone says a typical year brings "more than 200 summer internships" all around Minnesota. The Governor's Office runs its own unpaid program. The Legislature, cities, counties and state colleges hire separately and aren't covered here.
When Do State of Minnesota Internship Applications Open for 2027–2028?
Minnesota has no single application season. Each track runs on its own calendar. MnDOT posted its summer 2027 Civil Engineering Student Worker Program on September 8, 2026, for a May 19, 2027 start, a lead of about 8 months, and its posting says interviews start in November 2026. The DNR says its summer internships are posted on the Minnesota Careers website during the month of January, so we expect the summer 2027 wave in January 2027, about 4 to 5 months before summer field seasons start. Agency student-worker jobs post all year, each with a window of about 2 to 4 weeks: the Education Department's Data Analytics Student Worker ran October 17 to November 12, 2026 and has now closed. The Governor's Office takes fall, spring and summer interns. Its fall 2026 deadline was September 24, 2026, and spring and summer 2027 dates aren't published yet.
Mid-cycle. Applications for MnDOT's summer 2027 Civil Engineering Student Worker Program are open, and the posting says interviews start in November 2026. Agency student-worker jobs are live too: the Health Department's Foodborne Diseases Student Worker closes November 23, 2026. The Governor's Office spring 2027 application isn't posted.
Check careers.mn.gov weekly with the "Student Worker & Internships" filter, since new student-worker jobs post and close within weeks. Get your resume ready to show your college, major and expected graduation date, which the postings ask for.
Expected: DNR summer 2027 internships post on careers.mn.gov during January, following the DNR's own stated pattern. Filter by "Natural Resources Dept" and the student job family.
MnDOT's summer 2027 posting lists a closing date of March 5, 2027, but it stays open only until positions are filled, so late applicants may find fewer spots. Its program page says it accepts applications from September through May.
MnDOT's program runs May 19 to August 27, 2027. DNR internships run 20 to 40 hours a week across the state. Return offers aren't published as a rate. Next: the Governor's Office fall 2027 session, whose 2026 deadline was in late September.
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
Two clocks run here. MnDOT's engineering program fills on a rolling basis: its posting says interviews start in November 2026 and that it stays open until positions are filled, so an application in November competes for more openings than one in March. Agency student-worker jobs are short windows. The Health Department's Foodborne Diseases posting is open November 9 to November 23, 2026, and the Education Department's data analytics posting was open less than four weeks before it closed on November 12. No banner on the board announces a new posting, so a weekly check of the job-family filter is what keeps you from missing one.
Which State of Minnesota Internship Programs Should You Target?
These are the main doors, with details from the State's own postings and agency pages, read in November 2026.
| Program | Focus | Duration | Key details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agency student-worker jobs | Data, public health, GIS, right of way and office support across agencies | Year-round, mostly part-time | $18.15 to $21.26/hr (Paraprofessional) or $20.20 to $24.02/hr (Senior); each posting open about 2 to 4 weeks; no academic credit needed |
| Health Department Foodborne Diseases Student Worker | Salmonella and other foodborne illness surveillance, phone interviews, outbreak investigations | 20 hrs/week, hybrid, St. Paul | $20.20 to $24.02/hr; open November 9 to November 23, 2026; no visa or STEM OPT sponsorship |
| MnDOT Civil Engineering Student Worker Program | Construction, surveying, design, bridges, materials, hydraulics and traffic | May 19 to August 27, 2027, up to 40 hrs/week | Open now, interviews from November 2026; listed close 03/05/2027 or when filled; 11 locations statewide; no visa sponsorship |
| DNR summer internships | Fisheries, forestry, parks, wildlife research, invasive species, naturalist work | Summer, 20 to 40 hrs/week | $19.00/hr on the DNR's page; "more than 200" in a typical year; summer 2027 postings expected January 2027 |
| Governor's Office Internship Program | Public engagement, policy and legislative affairs, communications, operations, tribal-state relations | Fall, spring and summer; at least 12 to 15 hrs/week | Unpaid and part-time; must earn academic credit; fall 2026 closed September 24, 2026; spring 2027 not posted |
| MNIT student roles | IT and GIS student-worker jobs | Part-time, by posting | MNIT says "We do not currently have a formal internship program"; it posts student-worker roles such as Student GIS Technician |
The Governor's Office also has Legal and Judicial Appointments internships: Legal requires a finished undergraduate degree and current law school enrollment, and Judicial Appointments strongly encourages law students to apply. MnDOT also posts a Seeds student-worker role. The Pollution Control Agency's GreenCorps role on the same filter is an AmeriCorps member job, not a student role.
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
Rules differ by track. These come from the State's own postings and agency pages, read in November 2026.
• Student workers: you must be "enrolled in a post-secondary or graduate program or plan to enroll within three months" and carry at least six semester or nine quarter credits, per the postings we checked. Academic credit isn't required.
• Internships: the State says internship candidates must receive academic credit from their school. The Governor's Office adds that you must be 18 or older and enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student.
• High school students: MMB says student-worker jobs "may be open to secondary or post-secondary students", so some postings take high school students. Check each posting's qualifications.
• MnDOT program: per the 2027 posting, you must study Civil, Construction, Environmental, Geo or Structural Engineering or Land Management and take two or more classes per semester.
• Work authorization: the Health, Education and MnDOT postings we checked say they don't sponsor work visas; Health and MnDOT also exclude STEM OPT extensions. All three require a background check.
• Residency: none of the postings we read requires Minnesota residence. The Education posting allowed telework from a bordering state within 50 miles.
Is the GPA a Hard Cutoff?
Only MnDOT sets a GPA, and its two pages disagree. The program page lists a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher, while the 2027 posting lists 3.0 as preferred, along with junior standing. Go by the posting. For every other track, what screens people out is the resume: postings say only resumes that clearly show each minimum qualification will be considered.
What Skills Does the State of Minnesota Look For, and How Do You Build Them?
We read three student postings in full: the Health Department's Foodborne Diseases Student Worker, the Education Department's Data Analytics Student Worker (closed November 12, 2026) and MnDOT's summer 2027 engineering program. All three tie the job to a field of study. Two ask for communication, and the Health posting wants you to "communicate effectively, orally and in writing". Two involve data work, from "collect and enter data" at Health to "data cleansing, optimization" at Education. The technical asks are role-specific: the Education posting preferred "python, SQL, SAS, R, SPSS" and mentioned PowerApps.
What State of Minnesota looks for in interns
Skills across 3 State of Minnesota intern & analyst job descriptions · live and recent student postings on careers.mn.gov, projecting 2027
Method: full-text reading of 3 State of Minnesota student postings (Health Department Foodborne Diseases Student Worker, Education Department Data Analytics Student Worker, MnDOT Civil Engineering Student Worker summer 2027). With only 3 postings, counts are indicative.
How Is Demand for Data Analyst Interns Moving Right Now?
Data analyst intern postings · Jul–Oct 2026
all internships 2.5×
For State of Minnesota applicants: On November 12, 2026 careers.mn.gov listed 8 postings under Student Worker & Internships out of 362 open jobs, one of them an AmeriCorps member role. The Education Department's Data Analytics Student Worker closed that day.
Daily US job-posting counts, Jul–Oct 2026; each bar is that month's daily average. Growth = October vs July; “all internships” = the 48 intern searches tracked across the whole period. Covers under half of US postings; shows direction, not market size.
Build These Skills Before You Apply
Each skill below comes from the State's own postings and maps to a remote Externship you can finish before the January postings.
| Skill (from real JDs) | JD evidence | Externship that builds it |
|---|---|---|
| SQL and statistics tools | Education Department Data Analytics Student Worker: "python, SQL, SAS, R, SPSS" (preferred) | SQL & Database Architecture Externship with Breaking Games |
| Public-health data | Health Department Foodborne Diseases Student Worker: "collect and enter data" and "provide data management" | Health Research & Data Analytics with ARCeH |
| Automated workflows | Education Department: develop "automated scripts and workflows" supporting "multipurpose PowerApps" | Wayfair n8n AI Agent Engineering |
| Policy research and writing | Governor's Office: "Strong writing, research, and organizational skills" | Juvenile Justice Policy Analyst Externship with CIYJ |
No open Externship teaches road surveying or fisheries field work. For MnDOT and DNR roles, a finished data project still shows the analysis and reporting skills the postings value.
What Is the State of Minnesota Application and Interview Process Like?
Agencies hire on their own, but the student-worker and MnDOT routes start on the same job board.
1. Find the posting. On careers.mn.gov, filter Job Family to "Student Worker & Internships". A keyword search for "intern" also returns jobs with "Internal" or "International" in the text.
2. Write the resume to the minimum qualifications. The Health posting asks that it clearly describe your experience, "the college where you are currently enrolled, your intended major, and anticipated graduation date".
3. For MnDOT's program, click "Apply for Job" on careers.mn.gov and email your resume, current transcript and Location Preference Form to CivilEngineeringProgram.DOT@state.mn.us, per the 2027 posting.
4. For the Governor's Office, email the application form, resume, cover letter and a writing sample of up to 4 pages to gov.internships@state.mn.us. The page says you must submit all four documents.
5. Interview and clear the checks. Expect an interview (commenters describe scored panel interviews) and a background check before you start.
No agency publishes an acceptance rate or applicant count.
What Students on Reddit Say
We found no Reddit discussion of the DNR, MnDOT or Governor's Office internships. The threads below are about State of Minnesota student-worker hiring.
A student prepping for a second-round MNIT student-worker interview got this from a commenter who said they'd sat on several MNIT hiring panels: panels score answers on specific detail, and the detail is what separates a top score from a low one.
A commenter who said they'd hired many MNIT student workers advised giving real examples rather than general answers, and expecting to list up to five references, with instructors acceptable. They said the teams that hire students value them.
A former State Student Worker said that hiring process moved fast compared with a permanent state job they applied to later. Other commenters said state hiring can take weeks and that a polite email to the hiring manager is fine.
How Do You Stand Out for a State of Minnesota Internship?
First, apply early to the rolling tracks. MnDOT's posting says interviews start in November 2026, and it fills spots as it goes, so a March application faces fewer openings. Second, write your resume to the posting. The State says only resumes that clearly show each minimum qualification will be considered, so list your school, major, credits and graduation date. Third, prepare answers built on real examples. Commenters who sat on MNIT hiring panels say answers are scored on detail. Pick the right track, too: a student-worker job pays and needs only enrollment, while an internship needs academic credit and, at the Governor's Office, is unpaid. No agency publishes a conversion rate, but MnDOT says students may qualify for another student worker or temporary MnDOT job after the program.
What Other Companies Should You Consider?
If you're looking at public-sector internships, these employers also hire students:
- State of Washingtonanother state government whose agencies post their own summer student internshipsGuide →
- State of Marylandstate agencies plus a paid statewide summer internship programGuide →
- US Department of Transportationfederal counterpart to MnDOT, with engineering and policy internshipsGuide →
- National Park Servicefederal parks and natural-resources internships, closest to DNR field workGuide →
- Department of Health and Human Servicesfederal public-health internships, closest to the Health Department's surveillance rolesGuide →
Our government internships guide compares more agencies and public-sector programs.
FAQ
Can I still apply for a summer 2026 State of Minnesota internship?
No. Summer 2026 roles have run. For summer 2027, MnDOT's Civil Engineering Student Worker Program is open now and fills on a rolling basis, with a listed closing date of March 5, 2027. DNR summer 2027 internships are expected in January 2027, and agency student-worker jobs post throughout the year on careers.mn.gov.
What's the difference between a state internship and a student worker job?
Academic credit. Minnesota Management and Budget says internship candidates must receive academic credit from their school. Student workers don't need credit but must stay enrolled. On the postings we checked, that means at least six semester or nine quarter credits. Most paid State roles open to students today are student-worker jobs, paying $18.15 to $24.02 an hour.
Are State of Minnesota internships paid?
Most student roles are. Student Worker Paraprofessional jobs pay $18.15 to $21.26 an hour and Senior jobs $20.20 to $24.02, on the scale as of July 1, 2026. The DNR's internship page lists $19.00 an hour. The Governor's Office internships are unpaid and part-time, and they must earn you academic credit.
When do DNR summer internships open?
In January. The DNR says its summer internships are posted on the Minnesota Careers website during the month of January, so we expect the summer 2027 wave in January 2027. A typical year brings more than 200 of them statewide, at 20 to 40 hours a week. Filter careers.mn.gov by Natural Resources Dept and the student job family.
How do I apply to MnDOT's Civil Engineering Student Worker Program?
Apply on careers.mn.gov and email MnDOT your resume, current transcript and Location Preference Form, per the 2027 posting. You need to study civil, construction, environmental, geo or structural engineering or land management. The program runs May 19 to August 27, 2027, and its posting says interviews start in November 2026.
Do I need to live in Minnesota or have work authorization?
Residence isn't required on the postings we read, but work authorization is. The Health, Education and MnDOT postings say they don't sponsor work visas, and Health and MnDOT also exclude STEM OPT extensions. The Education posting allowed telework from a bordering state within 50 miles. All three require a background check before you start.
Can high school students work for the State of Minnesota?
Sometimes. Minnesota Management and Budget says student-worker positions may be open to secondary or post-secondary students, so some postings accept high school students. Many current postings ask for college enrollment instead, so read the minimum qualifications on each one. The Governor's Office internship is for undergraduate and graduate students aged 18 or older.
How does the Governor's Office internship work?
It's unpaid and part-time, at least 12 to 15 hours a week, and must earn you academic credit. Sessions run in fall, spring and summer. You email four documents: the application form, resume, cover letter and a writing sample. The fall 2026 deadline was September 24, 2026; spring 2027 dates aren't posted yet.
DNR's summer 2027 postings are expected in January, and MnDOT is hiring now. A remote Externship gives your application a finished data or policy project to point to.
About the Author
Bifei Wang has spent 17 years focused on human flow and the growth of young professionals, spanning international education, career training and coaching, and recruitment process outsourcing. Over 7 years at Extern, he has had one-on-one sessions with thousands of students exploring careers in consulting, finance, tech, marketing, and data, giving him a firsthand view of how the job market has shifted for early-career professionals and what it actually takes to break in.
