Wisconsin (CBS 58) — UW Systems president Tommy Thompson had a “big idea” to announce Thursday, December 16 in Milwaukee.
This is a new internship program for underrepresented students.
Here’s how it works: UW-Milwaukee has received a half-million dollar grant. With that money, the school will place 100 students from underrepresented populations into paid internships for two years with Milwaukee area corporations.
The goal is not only to help those students towards careers, but also to address one of the biggest challenges employers face, finding skilled workers from diverse backgrounds.
“So we’re going to develop them, for these 100 students to go into those places of business and learn how to build that business, run that business, and hopefully these students will say ‘I can be an entrepreneur. I can grow. It’s not that hard. I know how to do it now,’” Thompson said.
Students selected for one of the internships will work 10-15 hours a week and earn between $15-21 per hour.