Most hospitality degrees ask you to find an unpaid internship. This one is built differently. You complete 1,000 hours of Professional Industry Immersion (PII), in real, paid roles before you graduate. You leave with a degree, a resume full of real work, and a paycheck already earned.

How PII works

About 250 hours a year across your degree, but how you get there is up to you. Up to 250 hours of prior, relevant work can transfer in. Your hours are paid roles with real employers across the Montana Living Laboratory, from luxury resorts and guest ranches to destination lodges. PII is a graduation requirement, not a single internship and not course credit.

Why it matters

By the time you interview for your first career role, you have already done the work. Students tell us the nerves are gone by the second interview, because they are describing a job they have held, not a classroom.