Unpaid or low-paying internships can put relevant work experience outside the reach of some students. That’s changing this summer for 153 students who received scholarships through the pilot Internship Scholarship Program recently launched by TCU Career Services.

“Seventy-five percent of employers expect students to have at least two internships before graduating, and even 50 percent of those expect them to have three,” says Susan Sledge, Career Services employment development manager, who is in charge of the program. “What do you do when the best opportunities are unpaid or low-paying? We want to make it a choice for students, where they can pick based on the experience they’re going to gain. Scholarships aren’t going to pay all their expenses, but they can supplement them enough to make the internships possible.”

The program, which was launched with funding from TCU and the Legett Foundation, selected proactive students who had already found summer internship possibilities and who could articulate why the internships would contribute to their long-term career goals. It supports the students financially as well as providing learning objectives and feedback.

Students from every college received scholarships, making for a diverse array of real-world experience in organizations. For example, marketing major Serena Silvan interned at the American Pavilion of the Cannes Film Festival and Steel Hanf ’13 is interning with Warner Music Group in New York. He graduated in May with a degree in Film, Television, and Digital Media.

Studio art major Kylie Martin, who aims to run a gallery facility, received a scholarship to intern at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center. Her father’s GI Bill benefits only cover the school year, and she already has one part-time job. She would have had to take another to pay her bills, had it not been for the scholarship.

“It took off that worry,” she says. “It helps me focus on getting experience with this internship.”

As a gallery intern, Martin arranges shows with the gallery manager, gathers information for newsletters, and processes contracts.

“It shows me the work that happens in the background that I didn’t understand before,” she says, noting that the real-world experience gives her confidence in her career choice. “It’s helped me realize the amount of tasks I’d have to be able to handle.” And, she says, being surrounded by art and talking with artists helps her create her own art in the studio.

Only 10 universities in the U.S. offer internship scholarships. The TCU program awarded almost $300,000, with 153 students receiving scholarships that averaged around $2,000 each.

Sledge hopes to turn it into a year-round program.

“I know from our statistics that we see students [who intern] receive jobs from employers down the road,” she says. “We know that the best thing for them is to be out there doing these internships.”

Video: