Best Online AI Degrees With Internships (2026)

Six of the 120 credit hours can go to an internship, a thesis or a project, so work experience counts toward graduation instead of piling on top of it. That fits a student who wants a Bloomington degree and some real-world time before applying for jobs. The catch is that the internship is one of three choices, not a requirement.

Here the internship means working on AI-related projects with industry partners, and you can do it while enrolled in the online version of a degree that is also taught on campus. It suits a working adult who wants both a bachelor's and a project to point to. The page calls the internship an option, so ask how placements get arranged for distance students.

Tennessee lists for-credit internship opportunities inside a fully asynchronous degree, so you can fit work experience around a job instead of quitting it. In-state students pay $490 per credit, out-of-state $565, over 120 credits. Choose it if you want credit for your experience. Ask which employers and how many hours past students have worked.

Angelo State names its internship sites, which most programs on this list don't. They include the on-campus Regional Security Operations Center and Texas DIR Data Center, plus off-campus placements at Dell Technologies and the NSA. That points to security-minded AI students, especially Texans. Ask whether online students can reach the on-campus sites, and confirm the price and credit total with admissions.

UAT folds internships, community projects and apprenticeship experiences into the degree, so there are several ways to earn experience, not one. It's built for someone who wants a technology-only school and flexible classes, taught in 7.5-week modules. The warning sign is a 35% federal graduation rate, so ask how advisors help students finish and how internships actually get arranged online.

Capitol links this research master's to internship and mentoring opportunities through its AI Center of Excellence, and industry partners support that center. You'd pay $665 per credit across 36 credits, $23,940 before the $55 per-credit fee. Pick it if mentoring matters more to you than a placement. A written thesis and oral defense are required, so expect research work, not just practice.

Treat this as the self-directed choice on the list. Texas A&M calls internships optional and mentions only CSCE 684, which international students on curricular practical training register for. You'd arrange experience yourself while taking 30 credits entirely at a distance. It fits a student who already has an employer or a lead. No fixed price is printed, so use the tuition calculator.

Clinicians can finish this degree with a Graduate Internship (AIM 5910) in place of the Capstone Experience (AIM 5960), which lets a nurse or physician apply AI inside a health setting. No computer science background is required. The trade-off is that the internship replaces the capstone, so you choose one. The clinical focus also means the experience won't transfer neatly to general software roles.

Drexel offers an optional co-op experience, listed as COOP 500, on top of its capstone courses. That makes it a fit for software engineers who want industry time on a resume, not simply coursework. The price is the drawback. At $1,400 per quarter credit, 45 credits come to $63,000 before fees, and the co-op isn't guaranteed or required.

Duke pairs a summer internship or industry project with a capstone built around a corporate partner's real opportunity, and internship courses carry no tuition. That suits a working engineer who wants a sponsor-backed project. Cost and travel are the downsides. At $2,555 per credit, 30 credits come to $76,650, and two residencies on the Duke campus are required.

If you want real work experience without a heavy research thesis, this is a clean route. The optional AI 680 internship is three credits and replaces electives, and the capstone is a separate three-credit project. It suits career changers who need a résumé line. Plan on the pace, though, because courses run 10 weeks and the credit total depends on your prep.

DePaul lets you pick the internship as your finish line. The optional graduate internship, CSC 697, carries four credit hours and counts as the capstone, so you can skip the research track entirely. It fits someone already comfortable with calculus who wants an employer on the record. Expect a price tag near $48,144 in tuition for the 48 credits.

Montclair gives you two experience options at the end: an analytics capstone or INFO 591, an analytics internship. The online pathway also embeds a practicum solving data problems for real organizations. That makes it a strong match for analysts who want applied business work on a transcript. The cost is an in-person 3-5 day domestic trip and a fall-only start.

Wayne is the entry-level pick if you want to test a workplace before committing to a bachelor's. Work-based learning, either WBL 110 or WBL 111, can serve as your major elective, though it's optional. It works for career starters who live near an employer. As an associate degree it stops at 65 credits, so later roles may ask for more.