You don’t need internships in DC. You need opportunities to report…period - city council, county, etc. Today, vs. when I was a an SU/Maxwell dual, you have an IPhone - and so you can create stories from anywhere. But back in the day, we had very few chances to anchor/report - so you need to find out from the schools how much access to equipment will you have.
Schools, by the way, don’t give you internships. You have to seek them - and you will compete at the major networks or DC bureaus - with kids from all the local schools and even kids coming to DC for a semester program. SU, of course, has a DC center.
They are both fine programs.
If you’re the student from last week, SU seemed over budget.
But given you prefer SU, I’d go there - but I would focus on getting experience. It needn’t be DC. In fact, you’ll build better skills starting with the local council meetings where people will actually speak to you vs. in DC where they won’t.
It’s no different than many find their first job in small markets in Montana or West Virginia…and work their way up - those few who find jobs at all.
But in this case - SU is the right call.
Best of luck.
PS - I put this on one of your other threads - but there is no “monopoly” on who is in DC. Here is a sampling (A-K) of current or former WH correspondents, as an example. Many will not have been trained on the “academic” side of journalism itself in any way.
Jim Acosta - James Madison
Peter Alexander - Northwestern
Peter Baker - Oberlin
Rebecca Ballhaus - Brown
Jennifer Bendery - U of Mary Washington / SF State
Margaret Brennan - UVA
David Brody - Ithaca
Kaitlin Collins - Alabama
Jeremy Diamond - GW
Peter Doocy - Villanova
Devin Dwyer - Dartmouth/Columbia
Andrew Feinberg - Wisconsin
Kristin Fisher - BU
Major Garrett - Mizzou
Maggie Haberman - Sarah Lawrence
Astead Herndon - Marquette
Hallie Jackson - Johns Hopkins
Weijia Jang - W&M, Syracuse (MS)
Jonathan Karl - Vassar