Founded in 1992, the St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP) has provided stable and consistent opportunities for underserved St. Louis high school students for over 20 years. Since 1992, over 98% of over 4,100 interns have graduated high school, with over 90% entering college education.
The SLIP mission is to provide inspiration, support, professional development, and training to high school students with financial needs so they can obtain valuable internships in professional settings; to provide life skills for our students and alumni through year-round programming to position them for improved educational and, ultimately, full-time employment opportunities; and to provide our business partners with access to motivated, well-trained, talented employees, and to foster diversity within the workplace.
SLIP internships are much more than just summer jobs. Eight-week paid summer internships are preceded by a guided application process and intensive work readiness training and followed by year-round college prep and peer and professional networking. SLIP’s Health Care Internship Component combines academic coaching and field experiences with summer internships in health facilities. The Patient Care Internship Component combines training in direct patient care with summer internships. The Pre-Internship Component addresses the high risk 9th grade year. A national model for community-based internships, SLIP has been replicated in 38 cities nationwide.