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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

You may request enrollment in one of the following 3-credit internship courses if you’ve obtained an internship of at least 120 hours. The course must be completed with a passing grade, or a grade of P for courses graded only Pass/Fail.

Internship courses

  • FINC 364 Finance in Practice
  • BUAD 364 Business Administration in Practice
  • MISY 364 Management Information Systems in Practice
  • ACCT 364 Accounting in Practice
  • ENTR 364 Entrepreneurship in Practice

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
  • BUAD 444 Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management
  • BUAD/MISY 445 Business Analytics Capstone
  • BUAD 448 Decision Support Services for Operations
  • BUAD 468 Undergraduate Research
  • BUAD 478 Field Projects in Marketing
  • ECON 436 Seminar in Public Policy 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 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 Hotel Restaurant and Institutional Lodging Management Practicum I
  • HOSP 489 HRIM Restaurant Management Practicum II
  • HOSP 495 Hospitality Feasibility Studies
  • MISY 420 Global IT Enabled Innovation and Change
  • MISY 431 MIS Project Management
  • 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.

To earn academic credit for your internship which will fulfill the DLE (Discovery Learning Experience) requirement, you must follow these steps:

  1. Take FINC 311 before you begin your internship. FINC 311 is a prerequisite for FINC 364. You must have completed it with a grade of C- or better BEFORE you begin your internship. Complete the Discovery Learning-Internship Agreement (PDF). Once you have signed it and obtained your on-site supervisor’s signature, scan and email the application to Fei Xie at xief@udel.edu.
  2. Once the form has been completed and all signatures have been obtained, the department will register you for FINC 364 Finance in Practice (3 credits). You will be registered for the course in the semester in which your internship ends. If your internship is served during the summer, you will be registered for FINC 364 in the following fall semester.

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

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