Students’ career interests, matched with their skills, knowledge and abilities are placed on-site at a VA headquarters or field facility. Interns will get experience in a variety of career fields such as Human Resources, Communications, Business/Finance, Information Technology to name a few. Task assignments include but are not limited to project assignments, attending seminars, workshops, training sessions and field trips. The VA assigns a Primary and Alternate Mentor to each intern who interact with and provide guidance on project tasks and assignments.

NDIP interns receive bi-weekly stipend payments and if needed round trip transportation to the internship site, if the intern’s permanent residence is more than 50 miles away, and housing at the internship location. Stipend amounts vary and are based on the educational level of the student.

The VA NDIP sessions are 10 – 15 weeks long. The summer session is 10 weeks long from June to August; spring and fall sessions are 15 weeks from January to May and September to December respectively.