NC STATE UNIVERSITY
Rural Works! Internships
The Rural Works! Internship Program is affordable for the company and provides competitive pay for the engineering student. An engineering participation stipend is provided to students for employers in rural communities hosting interns in the field of engineering.
The company must be located in a Tier 1, Tier 2 or rural community. The company pays the intern $15 per hour and NC State University will pay the engineering student an additional $10 per hour, allowing the rural internship employer to attract the top candidates and be competitive with internship programs in larger, more urban areas in the state.
Participating in this initiative is a hassle-free process. The NC State University Industry Extension Services Regional Manager in your community can assist you, from creating internship descriptions to developing interview questions and onboarding the intern. They can even help reserve space at one of the NC State-owned facilities located across the state for interviews and meetings, if needed. Get started by submitting an Employer Interest Form before March 31, 2026.
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October – March: Submit Employer Interest Form
October-March: Work with your Industry Extension Services Regional Manager to write job descriptions and develop interview questions.
March 26, 2027: Hiring forms due.
April 9, 2027: All hiring must be completed and reported.
June 18, 2027: Employer Mid-Internship Evaluation sent out.
May – August: Your Industry Extension Services Regional Manager will follow up with you through the duration of the internship and at the end of the program to receive feedback.
August 14, 2027: Employer Post-Internship Evealuation sent out.
The impact of Rural Works! Internship Program extends far beyond the classroom and internship placements. By channeling the energy and enthusiasm of talented students into rural areas, the program becomes a catalyst for positive change.
Interns engage with local residents, contribute to product innovation, provide fresh ideas, help solve organizational challenges and complete technical projects for the employers.
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Background
The Rural Works! Internship Program addresses a growing challenge in our Rural / Urban divide: the gap between the state’s highly trained students and the employment needs of its rural communities. While North Carolina’s rural regions power much of the state’s manufacturing and industrial output, many graduates choose to pursue careers in urban centers, leaving these areas talent-starved.
In alignment with NC State’s land-grant mission to advance social, economic, and technological growth statewide, Rural Works! reconnects students with meaningful career opportunities in rural North Carolina and strengthens local economies through university-industry collaboration.
Intern Data
Job Posting Data
Student Internship Data
Rural Works! interns completed a pre- and post-internship survey to assess development in the NACE Career Competencies. Students who participated in Rural Works! reported growth across all of the NACE Competencies with particularly high scores in Teamwork, Communication, and Critical Thinking. When asked about opportunities for skill development, students strongly reported that their internships offered the opportunity to develop in all 7 areas. This data is consistent with 2023 and 2024, showing that Rural Works! has consistently offered high-impact experience internships where students develop real-world skills.
Amongst Rural Works! Engineering students 61 participants were declared Mechanical Engineering majors and 30 were Industrial & Systems Engineering majors. These two majors accounted for 60% of all participants. The next largest groups were Chemical Engineering with 13 participants and Computer Engineering with 7. This difference in major representation is a significant gap with positives and negatives. Rural Works! has excelled at recruiting employers who are hiring for mechanical and industrial positions; however, the program could benefit from increased diversity in types of positions offered.
Additional analysis of student demographics showed that 15.86% of Rural Works! students were first-generation, consistent with university demographics. 81% of participants were male and 19% were female, which falls behind the COE’s overall enrollment split of 71% male to 29% female. To boost female participation, targeted outreach to the WISE Village and SWE will be implemented for summer 2026.
Employer Data
The heat map of Rural Works! placements across North Carolina shows a majority of placements in central NC with some distribution to the western and eastern tips. Randolph County and Granville County have the highest density of placements, largely due to Technimark and Ontic recruiting extensively from NC State through Rural Works!. Wilson County and Lee County had the highest number of unique employers, with 9 companies in Wilson and 8 companies in Lee.
Schindler Elevators & Escalators
Butterfields Candies
Evans Machinery
Charter Furniture
VIDEO: Anna Mangum, Industry Extension Services Regional Manager and Audrey Lew, NC State University intern discuss the Rural Works! Internship Experience at Belt Concepts
VIDEO: Students share their internship experiences on YouTube: Rural Works! Summer Internships Playlist