From Classroom to Career: Experiential Learning at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Preparing students for the workforce requires more than classroom instruction. It also means creating opportunities for students to apply what they learn, build skills, and gain meaningful experience before graduation. At the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL), experiential learning is helping create those connections between education and employment.

One of the most persistent challenges in the education-to-employment pipeline is ensuring that students leave school not only with knowledge, but with experience applying it. Through internships, applied learning, entrepreneurship and hands-on projects, students are gaining opportunities to test their skills in real-world environments before they enter the workforce full time. For undergraduates who began at UNL in fall 2022 or later, experiential learning is also part of the university’s graduation requirements, reflecting a broader institutional focus on learning beyond the classroom.

That approach can be seen across the university.

Jacht, UNL’s student-run advertising agency, allows students to work with real clients across branding, design, public relations, social media, photography, video, and strategy. The experience gives students more than a portfolio piece. It requires them to manage deadlines, communicate with clients, collaborate across teams and deliver work in a professional setting.

The Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, also at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, offers another example. Students work across disciplines in areas such as filmmaking, game design, virtual reality and digital storytelling, combining technical and creative skills with the collaboration, adaptability, and problem-solving that employers increasingly value.

Entrepreneurship is also part of the equation. Through UNL’s Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, students take learning one step further by developing and launching their own enterprises. That experience can help students develop initiative, resilience and an entrepreneurial mindset that can carry into a wide range of careers.

Experiential learning is also built directly into UNL’s Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management program. At The Scarlet Hotel on Nebraska Innovation Campus, students can learn within the environment of an operating hotel, connecting classroom concepts with the day-to-day realities of hospitality. The program also incorporates multiple internships, giving students repeated opportunities to gain professional experience and explore potential career paths before graduation.

These examples vary widely by industry and academic discipline, but they share an important principle: Students are not waiting until after graduation to experience the world of work.

These programs reflect a central focus of SHRM’s Education-to-Employment (E²) Initiative: strengthening the connection between what students learn and what they will be expected to do in the workplace.

By combining education with real-world experience, institutions like UNL can help students enter the workforce with greater exposure to employers, stronger professional skills and a clearer understanding of how their education translates into a career.

For employers and HR professionals, that connection presents an opportunity as well. Internships, mentorships, employer-sponsored projects, job shadowing and partnerships with colleges and universities can give students earlier exposure to the expectations of the workplace while giving employers a more direct role in developing their future talent pipelines.

Preparing the next generation of workers is not solely the responsibility of educators or employers. It requires stronger connections between the two. Models like those underway at UNL demonstrate what can happen when learning and work are brought closer together, giving students not only an education, but meaningful opportunities to put it into practice.