                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

INNOVATIVE INTERNSHIP FUND AND PROGRAM (§ 23.1-903.4)

A. There is hereby created in the state treasury a special nonreverting fund to
be known as the Innovative Internship Fund (the Fund). The Fund shall be
established on the books of the Comptroller. All funds appropriated for such
purpose and any gifts, donations, grants, bequests, and other funds received on
its behalf shall be paid into the state treasury and credited to the Fund.
Interest earned on moneys in the Fund shall remain in the Fund and be credited
to it. Any moneys remaining in the Fund, including interest thereon, at the end
of each fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund but shall remain in the
Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall be used solely for the purposes of the Innovative
Internship Program established pursuant to subsection B. Expenditures and
disbursements from the Fund shall be made by the State Treasurer on warrants
issued by the Comptroller upon written request signed by the Executive Director
of the Council.

B. There is hereby established the Innovative Internship Program (the Program).
The purpose of the Program is to expand paid or credit-bearing student
internship and other work-based learning opportunities in collaboration with
Virginia employers. The Program comprises institutional grants and a statewide
initiative to facilitate the readiness of students, employers, and institutions
of higher education to participate in internship and other work-based learning
opportunities.

   1. In administering the statewide initiative, the Council shall (i) engage
   stakeholders from business and industry, secondary and higher education,
   economic development, and state agencies and entities that are successfully
   engaging employers or successfully operating internship programs; (ii) explore
   strategies in Virginia and elsewhere on successful institutional, regional,
   statewide or sector-based internship programs; (iii) gather data on current
   institutional internship practices, scale, and outcomes; (iv) develop
   internship readiness educational resources, delivery methods, certification
   procedures, and outreach and awareness activities for employer partners,
   students, and institutional career development personnel; (v) pursue shared
   services or other efficiency initiatives, including technological solutions;
   and (vi) create a process to track key measures of performance.

   2. The Council shall establish eligibility criteria, including requirements
   for matching funds, for institutional grants. Such grants shall be used to
   accomplish one or more of the following goals: (i) support state or regional
   workforce needs; (ii) support initiatives to attract and retain talent in the
   Commonwealth; (iii) support research and research commercialization in sectors
   and clusters targeted for development; (iv) support regional economic growth
   and diversification plans; (v) enhance the job readiness of students; (vi)
   enhance higher education affordability and timely completion for Virginia
   students; or (vii) further the objectives of increasing the tech talent
   pipeline.

   3. The Council shall partner with the Office of Education and Labor Market
   Alignment to collect and utilize data that includes the gaps that are most
   significant in hindering the Commonwealth from achieving the goals listed in
   subdivision 2. The Council and the Office of Education and Labor Market
   Alignment shall identify, at minimum: (i) state or regional workforce needs
   for which the lack of work-based learning opportunities is negatively
   impacting the success of regional economic growth and diversification plans
   and (ii) degree programs, the graduates of which describe themselves as
   underemployed, that would benefit from incorporating work-based learning into
   the curriculum. The Council and the Office of Education and Labor Market
   Alignment shall use the needs and degree programs identified in this
   subdivision to collaboratively determine priorities for: (a) using the portion
   of student financial aid authorized by the budget to be awarded as grants to
   students participating in work-based learning; (b) redesigning of curricula at
   public institutions of higher education; (c) garnering regional support and
   services to ensure the readiness of students and employers; (d) awarding
   grants to institutions of higher education to ensure their readiness to
   support students through detailed planning and implementation of best
   practices for scaling work-based learning; (e) providing or raising funds to
   provide matching funds so that students with limited resources, who have
   traditionally participated in the Program at lower rates, may intern at small
   Virginia-based employers; and (f) enhancing data collection and analysis.

HISTORY: 2019, cc. 794, 795; 2022, c. 420; 2025, c. 144.