"Most University of Houston students work at least 20 hours per week while in school to support themselves. Because of this, many were not considering the possibility or value of an internship. This resulted in students having difficulty transitioning to professional business careers upon graduation. To address this, we worked through an existing course to offer optional group projects which students could substitute for another major grade in the course. Groups of eight to 10 sophomore- and junior-level students worked on corporate projects during a six-week period. All projects involved some basic research, analysis, and presentation. In the first semester, 300 students and 13 organizations participated in the program, and all involved concluded it was a tremendous success. All participating companies want to continue to participate, and the students rated it among their favorite parts of the course. Students were able to sample experiences similar to an internship without leaving their existing jobs or losing study time. The experience encouraged them to pursue ""real"" internships in the future and gave them experiences to use in a resume and/or interview. Companies had the opportunity to network with students, and the entire project had no additional cost to anyone involved.

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