What a year of LaunchGVL actually looks like
154 students, 40 employers, and twelve scholarships. The numbers behind one internship season.
If you are weighing up whether to apply, it helps to know the scale of what you would be joining.
154 Greenville County students completed internships during the 2024-25 season, hosted by 40 local employers. Every position was paid.
The season closes with an end-of-year celebration for students and the businesses that hosted them. At the April 2025 event, twelve students left with scholarships on top of their internship earnings.
USC Upstate awarded seven. Four were worth $2,200 a year, and three covered full tuition. They went to students who had shown initiative and career readiness during their placements.
The Greenville Chamber Foundation awarded five more, at $1,000 each, drawn at random from participating interns.
Dr. Cheryl Garrison, who leads the Foundation, has described LaunchGVL as the collaborative approach the region needs to develop its workforce. For a student, the shorter version is this: a paid job, real experience on your resume before you graduate, and a reasonable chance of leaving with money toward college as well.
LaunchGVL has run since 2018 and is open to students aged 16 and older across all 14 Greenville County high schools, in six career pathways. A $250,000 grant announced in July 2026 is funding an increase to 300 students a year.