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Discovery Learning Experience

DLE Options

DLE credits can come from internships, DLE-designated courses, study abroad, service learning, and undergraduate research. More detail on each of these options follows.

Internships for credit

Students must have completed or be completing a qualified internship of at least 120 hours in a field pertinent to their major or career aspirations. Internships must be completed during the semester you are taking the class or one semester prior to taking the class. The professor will make sure you are added to the 3-credit course if your internship qualifies.

Students must complete this form to get approval to register for the internship class: https://forms.gle/jTQsXjbnhZyyS28w8

Please note that this form grants approval to register for the 365 class; however, students must complete internship hours and all course assignments to receive a final grade. The class itself is asynchronous and has a variety of professional development and reflection assignments to complete for the graded course.

Internship courses

Please email Jill Gugino Pante at jgugino@udel.edu with any questions for the following classes: ACCT365, BANA365, ECON365, ENTR365, FINC365, GBUS365, INNO365, MGMT365, MISY365, MKTG365, OPMT365. Note that the course content and assignments in each of these courses is identical.

What is an internship?

An internship is a paid or unpaid work experience that also has academic value in your program of study.

What are some benefits of an internship?

Internship benefits include:

  • Developing personally and professionally while gaining confidence and real-world experience
  • Helping you prepare for your chosen profession
  • Meeting and networking with practitioners in your area of interest
  • Mentoring and performance feedback from the site supervisor
  • Earning academic credit (NOTE: In order to obtain academic credit, the internship must consist of a minimum of 120 hours.)
  • Fulfilling the DLE requirement

What is a successful internship?

Successful internships can be found in diverse settings and involve widely varying projects and assignments. All successful internships, however, share three traits:

  • The host organization receives significant assistance as a result of the intern’s contributions.
  • The site supervisor provides feedback about the intern’s performance and potential career path.
  • The intern is challenged to develop professional skills, knowledge and ability.

DLE-designated courses

The following Lerner College courses can be taken to satisfy the DLE requirement. The course must be completed with a passing grade, or a grade of P for courses graded only Pass/Fail.

For applicable restrictions or prerequisites, please consult the individual course description in the university catalog.

  • ACCT 363 Service Learning and the Earned Income Tax Credit
  • BANA 445 Business Analytics Capstone
  • ECON 423 Applications of Modern Econometrics
  • ECON 436 Seminar in Public Economics
  • ENTR 352 Business Launch Pad
  • ENTR 353 ENTR Apprentice: Leadership and Influence
  • ENTR 420 Social Entrepreneurship
  • ENTR 450 Business Accelerator for New Ventures
  • ENTR 455 Startup eXperience I
  • ENTR 456 Startup Experience II
  • ENTR 458 App Development for New Technology
  • ENTR 460 High Technology Entrepreneurship
  • ENTR 464 Social Entrepreneurship Practicum
  • ENTR 489 Eco-Entrepreneurship Practicum
  • FINC 419 Financial Modeling and Valuation
  • FINC 425 Financial Plan Development
  • FINC 426 Trust Management Symposium
  • FINC 430 Fintech and Data Science for Finance
  • HOSP 300 Hospitality Healthcare Management
  • HOSP 355 Ecotourism Entrepreneurship
  • HOSP 364 Event and Meeting Management Practicum
  • HOSP 488 Management of Lodging Operations Practicum
  • HOSP 489 Management of Restaurant Operations Practicum
  • HOSP 495 Hospitality Feasibility Studies
  • MGMT 430 Management Consulting
  • MGMT 444 Small Business Management
  • MISY 420 Global IT Enabled Innovation and Change
  • MISY 431 MIS Capstone: IT Management
  • MKTG 419 Marketing Consulting Practicum
  • OPMT 450 Operations Consulting Project Practicum
  • SPTM 420 Sport Event Practicum
  • SPTM 464 Sport Management Capstone Internship

Study abroad & research

Specifics for finance and financial planning students

If you are a Finance/Financial Planning major and are planning on serving an internship to meet your DLE requirement or to earn credit, you must have passed FINC 311 with a C- or better BEFORE you begin the internship. In addition, your internship should provide you with the opportunity to employ skills and knowledge you have gained from Finance/Financial Planning courses you have taken. You must serve a minimum of 120 hours and you must follow the steps listed below in order to earn academic credit for your internship.

Contact Us

Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

General inquiries: lerner-advise@udel.edu

Request for excused absences: lernerexcusedabsence@udel.edu

Phone: 302-831-4369

Fax: 302-831-0708