Meghan Mistretta of Jamestown completed UB’s WNY Sophomore Externship Experience at FeedMore WNY.

The WNY Sophomore Externship Experience is a program that matches local college sophomores with paid extern opportunities at Western New York’s top companies.

UB is New York State’s flagship and the largest and most comprehensive institution in the State University of New York system.

The externship program, run by the university’s Startup and Innovation Collaboratory (CoLab), aims to prepare students for the workforce earlier in their college careers. It was funded by the Bryant Foundation in 2025 and the Prentice Family Foundation in 2024. Participating students earned $4,000, course credit and experience exploring career paths and opportunities throughout WNY.

“As the proud host of the WNY Sophomore Externship Experience for the second year, UB is very pleased to see the maturation of the program and the transformative experiences it provides for WNY students,” Provost A. Scott Weber says. “We are grateful to the Prentice Family Foundation and Bryant Foundation for their support of the program, and their investment in our future leaders and economic development in our region.”

A total of 76 students were selected to work with 33 host organizations for the second year of this program. In addition to UB students, the cohort also included sophomores from other Western New York universities, as well as college sophomores elsewhere, as long as they graduated from a local high school.