Is the University of Wisconsin or Fordham better for internships?

The biggest tradeoff is campus environment versus internship geography: Wisconsin offers the resources and alumni reach of a major Big Ten public university, while Fordham gives you day-to-day access to New York City internships during the school year. For pure convenience and volume of in-semester opportunities, Fordham has an edge because students can intern in Manhattan while classes are in session. Wisconsin, though, has a very large alumni network, strong employer relationships, and especially solid recruiting in business, engineering, government, and Midwest-based industries.

Fordham’s location is its strongest internship advantage. Being in New York makes it much easier to take on part-time internships during fall or spring, build contacts earlier, and access fields like finance, media, marketing, publishing, nonprofits, and some corporate roles without waiting for summer. Its alumni presence in NYC is meaningful, especially in business-related fields, and that proximity matters a lot when employers prefer students who can come in regularly.

Wisconsin is stronger in the scale of its recruiting ecosystem. Large career fairs, a broad employer base, and a huge alumni network can translate into excellent internship outcomes, especially if you are targeting companies with structured recruiting pipelines. The school is particularly well known for sending students into major employers across the Midwest and beyond, and students often land strong summer internships even if they are not interning locally during the semester.

Career support at both schools is real, but it works differently. At Fordham, the main advantage is using the city itself as part of your career strategy. At Wisconsin, the advantage is a bigger on-campus recruiting machine and deep alumni loyalty. In practice, Fordham often feels more hands-on for students who want to start interning early and often during the academic year, while Wisconsin can be better for students aiming at larger employers that recruit in a more formal way.

If internships are your top priority in the broadest sense, I’d give Fordham the slight advantage because NYC creates more immediate access. I’d lean Wisconsin instead if you want the reach of a huge public-university network and are comfortable building experience through summers, career fairs, and structured recruiting rather than relying on city-based semester internships.