NSA Summer 2027 Internship Program - Computer Science Internship - Entry Program - Maryland

National Security Agency; Fort Meade (MD); On-site; USD 11,000 - 14,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Housing accommodations

Travel entitlements

Paid leave

Holiday pay

Job summary

The National Security Agency in Fort Meade, MD offers a 12-week Computer Science Internship Program (CSIP) for undergraduate and graduate students to work on mission-critical projects and present a final technical paper.

Internship areas include Big Data, information security, machine learning, and language technologies, with competitive pay and housing/travel assistance as noted in the program details.

Qualifications

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program at time of application.
• Preferred cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher.
• Must be eligible for TS/SCI clearance after background, polygraph, evaluation.
• Available in the U.S. for interviews between Oct 2026 and Apr 2027.
• Major in Computer Science or closely related discipline.

Responsibilities

• Join a 12-week CS internship, assigned to mission-critical projects.
• Projects culminate in a short presentation and technical paper.
• Areas include Big Data, Information Retrieval, Security, ML/AI, HLT, and more.

Skills

U.S. Citizenship

Enrollment in degree-seeking program

Academic coursework in CS/related

GPA target 3.0+

Security clearance eligibility

Education

Undergraduate or graduate student

CS major or closely related

Tools

Operating Systems

Information Retrieval

Job description

Responsibilities

The NSA Summer Internship Programs at our Fort Meade, MD location offers students exciting, impactful professional work opportunities (with pay and limited benefits!) to grow their knowledge of the Intelligence Community and federal government while advancing NSA's two primary missions: 1) Collecting, analyzing, and producing foreign signals intelligence; and 2) Providing cybersecurity solutions and guidance to protect critical national infrastructure. These summer internship opportunities are open to students who are pursuing education in a variety of degree programs.

Computer Science Internship Program: The Computer Science Intern Program (CSIP) is an intense and exciting 12-week immersive internship open to select college undergraduate and graduate students majoring in Computer Science or closely related disciplines. Interns are assigned to projects that contribute to NSA's mission. Projects culminate in a short presentation and technical paper. Projects are typically in the areas of:

• Big Data
• Information Retrieval
• Information Visualization
• Computer and Network Security
• Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence
• Human Language Technology/Computational Linguistics
• Ontology/Taxonomy and Graphical Analysis
• Information Query and Question Answering
• Knowledge and Data Representation, Distillation, and Sharing
• Knowledge and Database Crawling
• Software Agent Planning and Control
• Signal Processing
• Architecture & Systems

Job Summary
Join students from across the country and lend your knowledge to national security in one of NSA's over 30 summer internship programs. These 12 week paid programs run from mid-May to mid-August and are open to undergraduate freshman up to Ph.D. students depending on internship requirements. These internships are open to a wide variety of majors and give students the opportunity to work directly with mission-critical problems and experience the excitement of working in NSA spaces.

Qualifications
To be accepted into the NSA Summer Internship - Computer Science Internship Program, candidates:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen
• Must be enrolled in a degree-seeking program (undergraduate, graduate, doctorate) at time of application
• Specific education requirements vary by program
• Preferred cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Must be eligible to be granted a TS/SCI security clearance after successfully completing a background investigation, a Full-scope Polygraph and a Psychological Evaluation
• Must be available and in the U.S. for operational and technical interviews and other applicable processing, both in-person and via telephone/internet, between the months of October 2026 and April 2027
• Must major in Computer Science or a very closely related discipline.
• Data Structures
• Discrete Mathematics or Discrete Structures
• Calculus I and Calculus II

Candidates are also expected to have taken courses in two or more of the following areas:

• Computer Organization and Assembly Language
• Principles of Programming Languages
• Software Design and Development
• Operating Systems
• Compiler Theory
• Computer Architecture
• Database Management Systems
• Computer Graphics
• Automata Theory and Formal Languages
• Software Engineering
• Human Computer Interaction
• Computer Networks
• Vulnerability Discovery
• Principles of Computer Security
• Computer Network Security
• Information Retrieval
• Human Language Technologies
• Artificial Intelligence
• Parallel and Distributed Processing
• Signal Processing
• Probability and Statistics
• Linear Algebra

PLEASE NOTE: Other majors may be considered, however the majors listed above are highly recommended. PLEASE NOTE: You may be required to complete an Unproctored Internet Testing (UIT) requirement measuring cognitive ability, motivation, and English proficiency.

Pay, Benefits, & Work Schedule
Students are paid a competitive salary commensurate with their education level.

• All internships are 10 - 12 weeks during the summer.
• Receive annual leave, sick leave and paid federal holidays.
• Students who attend school in excess of 75 miles from Fort Meade, MD are eligible for housing accommodations and travel entitlements of a round trip airfare ticket to and from school or mileage reimbursement up to the cost of a government-issued airline ticket.
• Daily transportation to and from work is NOT provided. Students participating in the program are highly encouraged to bring a vehicle. Carpooling with other students MAY be available, but is NOT guaranteed.
• Participation in agency-wide extracurricular programs.

DCIPS Disclaimer
The National Security Agency (NSA) is part of the DoD Intelligence Community Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System (DCIPS). All positions in the NSA are in the Excepted Services under 10 United States Codes (USC) 1601 appointment authority.