Tuck pays for PE internships

Business school students looking for summer internships are in for a tough slog this year, as more private equity firms focus on trimming expenses and in some cases personnel.

But the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College is hoping to give its first-year students an advantage by offering firms that hire them for the summer an added bonus in the form of a salary subsidy.

Tuck has created a special program that will pay up to half of a student intern’s salary if a private equity firm or portfolio company takes them on as a summer associate, according to Colin Blaydon, who mentioned the program at a recent event sponsored by the Association for Corporate Growth’s Boston chapter.

Blaydon estimated that around 60% of Tuck’s students this spring are looking for jobs in the alternative investment industry, including private equity, and said that for many, “it’s been a sobering experience.”

Jonathan Masland, co-director of Tuck’s career placement office, said that the program, which is supported through a partnership between the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship and the Career Placement Office, could finance up to $5,000 per internship. So far, it’s designed as a one-off program aimed at students seeking internships this summer.

The program is modeled on the Maynard Entrepreneurial Internship Program, an ongoing program that seeks to place Tuck students in internships with start-up companies, typically ones with $50 million or less in revenue or less than 200 employees. The Maynard program was founded in 2000 by Fred Maynard, a managing director with HarbourVest Partners LLC and a Tuck alum.

“The main purpose is to give Tuck students an extra arrow in their quiver,” Masland said.

Growth equity firm Sherbrooke Capital is tapping into the program, according to General Partner John Bello, a Tuck alum. Bello said that his firm is considering Tuck interns for its home office, as well as for two portfolio companies, San Francisco-based beverage company Adina For Life Inc. and Philadelphia-based sports clothing company Boathouse Sports.

“It takes the edge off and helps moderate the cost,” Bello said.