The Dr. Edwin Cottrell Entrepreneurial Leadership Center Internship program funds West Chester University students to intern with qualified Pennsylvania-based small and startup businesses. The Cottrell Center Internship program is designed to assist Pennsylvania-based startups and small businesses by matching them with talented WCU junior- and senior-level students and paying the WCU interns.  The program has funded more than 100 students in internships with PA based startups and small businesses.

The internship program exposes students to real-world entrepreneurial ventures, expanding their view of entrepreneurship from an abstract concept to a real-world experience. It provides students with a unique opportunity to experience first-hand, the risks, challenges and opportunities associated with real world small and start-up businesses while earning academic credit for the internship experience. For many students it triggers their entrepreneurial spirit. Student interns gain practical professional experience, earn college credit, and are paid by the Cottrell Center Internship program.

For many startups and small businesses the cost of hiring a student prevents them from benefitting from the talent of bright student interns. The Cottrell Center funding enables startups and small businesses to benefit from the talent of bright West Chester University students, and it provides students the opportunity to gain exposure to entrepreneurial environments. Pennsylvania based startups and small businesses that are revenue generating and pre-revenue startups with equity funding are eligible to request a Cottrell Center funded intern.

Funding for the 2013-2014 funding was provided through a grant awarded by the Delaware Valley Regional Economic Development Fund. Summer 2014 internships were funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development, Discovered and Developed in Pennsylvania program.

We regret that due to high demand for Cottrell Center funded interns, we have depleted our grant funding.  Please visit the WCU Twardowski Career Development Center website.