Insurance Internships: The Impact of RISE Elite 50

For many students, an internship is their first real introduction to the professional world. It’s a chance to explore career paths, build confidence, and discover where their interests and skills might take them.

For employers, it’s an opportunity to introduce new talent to their organization, bring fresh perspectives to the workplace, and develop their future workforce.

In an industry where attracting the next generation of professionals remains a priority, insurance internships have an important role to play on both sides of that equation.

That’s why RISE created the Elite 50 Internships, an annual recognition of 50 outstanding internship programs across the insurance industry. Now in its latest 2026 edition, the program celebrates organizations investing in meaningful experiences for emerging talent while helping students discover companies where they can begin building their careers.

What Makes Great Insurance Internships?

A great internship is about more than spending a summer in an office. It’s about giving students the opportunity to do meaningful work, learn from experienced professionals, and understand how their contributions fit into the bigger picture.

Through the RISE Elite 50 Internships program, RISE evaluates participating organizations across key areas such as mentorship, professional development, hands-on experience, networking, compensation, and overall program quality.

Importantly, the recognition goes beyond what companies say about their programs. Intern feedback helps bring the actual experience into focus.

That perspective has been central to the program’s development under Tori Snoddy, Vice President of Operations & Marketing at RISE, who has played a key role in growing Elite 50 and expanding its reach among employers, universities, and students.

Through years of working with participating organizations and reviewing internship experiences, Tori has seen how much the details matter. Opportunities to connect with leadership, take ownership of projects, receive thoughtful feedback, and build lasting professional relationships can make the difference between an internship that’s simply a summer job and one that shapes a career.

The feedback also reveals something important: Students want to feel that their work matters.

In the 2026 Elite 50 findings, 60% of interns led an intern project, while 59% improved a business project and 54% contributed to core business operations. Beyond the work itself, 67% finished their internships with five or more professional references, building networks that can support them well beyond the summer.

Those relationships and opportunities to contribute are exactly what help turn a short-term experience into a lasting connection with the industry.

Why Elite 50 Matters for Employers

Competition for emerging talent isn’t limited to the insurance industry. Students are exploring careers in technology, finance, healthcare, consulting, and other fields that may be more familiar to them.

For insurance companies, internships create a valuable opportunity to change that.

Students who may never have considered insurance can discover careers in underwriting, claims, actuarial science, risk management, technology, marketing, analytics, and countless other areas of the business.

And when those experiences are thoughtfully designed, companies benefit just as much as the students do.

Internship programs introduce organizations to potential future employees, bring new perspectives to existing teams, and give current employees opportunities to develop their own leadership and mentoring skills.

Elite 50 recognition helps employers make those investments visible. It highlights companies that are creating experiences worth talking about and gives students a way to identify organizations that prioritize their growth.

The 2026 Elite 50 reflects the variety of ways companies approach early-career development. Several organizations recognized through the program offer examples of what can make an internship experience stand out.

• AAA – Auto Club Group demonstrates the importance of workplace culture. Recognized for Exemplary Workplace Culture, its program highlights the value of creating an environment where interns feel welcomed, connected, and part of the organization.
• Builders Mutual emphasizes professional growth beyond the classroom. Recognized for Most Holistic Professional Development, its internship program offers opportunities for interns to gain practical experience, develop professional skills, and learn about different areas of the business. In RISE’s Inside the Builders Internship Experience, interns share how those opportunities shaped their summer and their understanding of the industry.
• Liberty Mutual Insurance shows why the internship experience begins long before an intern’s first assignment. Its Top-Tier Onboarding Experience recognition highlights the importance of helping students transition into a professional environment with the guidance, resources, and connections they need to get started.
• Encova Insurance demonstrates the impact of a supportive learning environment. Recognized for Most Supportive Learning Environment, its program reflects the importance of giving interns opportunities to ask questions, develop their skills, and gain confidence as they navigate new responsibilities.
• Westfield Insurance & Westfield Specialty highlights the value of connecting emerging talent with experienced leadership. Its Exceptional Executive Access recognition reflects how exposure to organizational leaders can give interns valuable perspectives on the business, career development, and opportunities within the industry.

While each organization takes its own approach, they share an investment in helping emerging professionals gain more from their internship experience.

For employers, that’s where the long-term value lies. A positive experience can turn an intern into a future employee, advocate, or industry leader.

What Elite 50 Means for Students

For students exploring insurance internships, knowing where to start can be one of the biggest challenges.

Many enter the job search without a clear understanding of the opportunities available in insurance. Others may already be interested in the industry but aren’t sure how to compare programs or identify the right fit.

The Elite 50 provides a starting point.

By highlighting companies recognized for their internship experiences, RISE helps students look beyond job descriptions and consider the opportunities that can shape their professional growth.

When researching an internship, students should think about more than the position title or hourly pay. Will they have opportunities to work on real projects? Will they receive mentorship and feedback? Can they build relationships with professionals outside their immediate team? Will they leave with a better understanding of their career options?

These experiences can be especially valuable in insurance, where career paths are often less visible to students who haven’t yet worked in the industry.

An underwriting internship might spark an interest in analytics or risk management. A claims internship might introduce someone to legal, technology, or customer experience roles. Even students who ultimately pursue a different function can leave with a stronger understanding of how the industry operates.

And those connections don’t have to end when the internship does.

The mentors, colleagues, and industry professionals students meet along the way can become valuable parts of their networks as they search for full-time opportunities and navigate the early stages of their careers.

Find Your Next Opportunity

The impact of great insurance internships extends well beyond a single summer. For students, they can open doors to career paths they hadn’t considered. For employers, they help develop the people who will shape the industry’s future.

Through Elite 50, RISE is helping connect those opportunities by celebrating companies investing in emerging talent and making it easier for students to find them.

Ready to explore what’s next?

Explore the RISE Elite 50 Internships to discover recognized internship programs across the insurance industry.

Visit the RISE Job Board to find insurance internships and early-career opportunities with companies across the country.

Whether you’re preparing for your first internship or building a program for the next generation, RISE is here to help make those opportunities count.