Announcing Vault's 2026 Internship Rankings!

by Vault Careers | October 21, 2025

We’re thrilled today to share our 2026 Internship Rankings! The Internship Rankings highlight the top programs in more than 30 categories. Vault’s rankings include the Most Prestigious Internships, Best Overall Internships, Best Internships by Industry, Best Internships by Role, Best Internships for Inclusion, and Best Internships for Key Employment Factors.

This past summer, Vault surveyed more than 17,000 current and former interns from more than 200 internship programs. We asked respondents to rate a list of top companies on how prestigious their internship programs are. We also asked respondents to rate and review their own internship experiences for our 2025 Best Internships Rankings in seven core areas: Quality of Life, Culture of Acceptance, Compensation & Benefits, Interview Process, Career Development, Full-Time Employment Prospects, and Inclusion.

To determine an overall score for each program, the ratings were assigned relative weights based on what interns told us they value most in an internship. The overall scores are based on the following weighted formula: 35 percent career development, 20 percent employment prospects, 20 percent quality of life, 20 percent compensation, and 5 percent culture of acceptance. Vault then compiled rankings of the top internship programs in more than 30 different areas.

This year’s top programs are:

No. 1 Overall Best Internship: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship

Accounting firm PKF O'Connor Davies is back at the top of our Best Internships list for the third year in a row. Past interns with the firm are impressed with how their abilities grow over the course of the internship, with one intern reporting, “As the internship went on, my work efficiency went up, and my work mistakes decreased. This was thanks to the training I got and my coworkers helping me whenever I needed. I always had work to do, and I truly felt as if I had a full-time position since I talked to clients and did real work that mattered.” One intern said of their experience, “The quality of life is phenomenal. The people in the office are all super helpful and friendly. The saying you ‘get’ to go to work rather than you ‘have’ to truly applies here.”

For folks interested in joining future iterations of the PKF O’Connor Davies internship program, one intern had this advice to offer: “I recommend just learning about people in the office. Everyone has their own path and stories, and it is so interesting and helpful to hear from everyone. Another assured future interns that, “Everyone who works at the firm wants you to learn and help you out in any way possible. They want you to develop your skills as an accountant.”

No. 1 Most Prestigious Internship: NASA OSTEM Internship

Once again, NASA clinches the top spot for Most Prestigious Internship, this making five straight years. NASA’s stellar reputation was lauded among survey respondents as “innovative,” “visionary,” and “the pinnacle of aerospace engineering,” with respondents saying that the organization “looks impressive on a resume” and hires “some of the smartest minds.” One respondent summed it up as a “dream job.”

Interns at NASA also have great things to say from inside the program. One intern said, “The culture here is very supportive of people who are self-motivated and have a true passion for space exploration. This allows for more work to be done efficiently and brings about great ideas with so many great minds in one place.” Another intern reports, “The quality of work and research that can be done as an intern is not comparable to any other company. If your goal was as much experience in as little time as possible, there is no better place.”

Below are the No. 1 internship programs in each ranking category.

Top Internships by Employment Factor:

Compensation & Benefits: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship Program

Culture of Acceptance: Equinix Internship Program

Employment Prospects: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship Program

Networking Opportunities: WME Group Internship Program

Overall Career Development: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship Program

Quality of Assignments: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship Program

Quality of Life: PKF O'Connor Davies Internship Program

Real-Life Experience: Sonoco Internship Program

Training & Mentoring: Mr. Cooper Homegrown Internship Program

Top Internships for Inclusion:

Overall Inclusion: PKF O’Connor Davies Internship Program

Best Internships for LGBTQ+ People: Cheniere Energy Summer Internship Program, Equinix Internship Program, PKF O’Connor Davies Internship Program (three-way tie)

Best Internships for People of Color: Cheniere Energy Summer Internship Program, PKF O’Connor Davies Internship Program (tie)

Best Internships for Women: Alfa Insurance Summer Internship Program, BambooHR Internship Program, BMSS Internship Program, Centric Brands Internship Program, Equinix Internship Program, PKF O’Connor Davies Internship Program, and Taylor Morrison Explorer Internship Program (seven-way tie)

Top Internships by Role:

Data Analytics: Bates White Summer Consultant Program

Engineering: ServiceNow Internship Program

Finance: Nationwide Internship Program

HR: The Home Depot Internship Program

Information Technology: ServiceNow Internship Program

Sales, Marketing, & Communications: Equinix Internship Program

Software Engineering & Development: Fastly Summer Engineering Intern Program

Strategy & Business Development: Vanguard Specialty Program Internship

Top Internships by Industry:

Accounting: PKF O’Connor Davies Internship Program

Construction & Trades: DAVIS Summer Internship Program