Key Takeaways
- Goldman Sachs accepted fewer than one in 100 applicants for its 2026 summer internship program.
- It is the third consecutive year its intern acceptance rate has stayed below 1%.
- The firm views its interns as a long-term investment in leadership; 40% of Goldman’s partners originally joined through campus recruiting.
Goldman Sachs has reached a new level of selectivity in its internship program.
The investment bank received hundreds of thousands of applications globally and accepted fewer than 1% of applicants this year, marking one of the lowest acceptance rates in its history, according to data shared with Fortune. A decade ago, the internship acceptance rate was about 5%.
“I think the selection rate speaks both to the strength of the opportunity and the caliber of talent we’re attracting globally,” Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman’s head of human capital management, told Fortune. The firm views its interns as a long-term investment in leadership, she said, adding that 40% of Goldman’s partners originally joined through campus recruiting.
The class of 2,500 interns comes from more than 500 universities, represents 90 nationalities and speaks over 70 languages. The group highlights how competitive entry into elite finance has become — this is the third consecutive year that Goldman has kept its intern acceptance rate below 1%. The internships typically start in early June and conclude in mid-August.
The composition of Goldman’s incoming class is diverse. The firm told Fortune that this year’s interns include over 30 high-level athletes, including a three-time Olympian, about 50 accomplished musicians and nearly 20 founders of nonprofit organizations. The mix shows that Goldman is moving beyond recruiting quantitatively-driven candidates from a narrow set of elite schools.
“We’re meeting individuals with a wider range of academic backgrounds, lived experiences and ways of thinking,” Arthur said. “It allows us to better understand the full person behind the application — and gives candidates a clearer view of the firm and where they might contribute.”
Other employers are also getting more selective
This increased selectivity signals a wider trend across elite employers. Acceptance rates at top consulting firms, tech companies and investment banks have all tightened in recent years as companies have become more cautious in expanding their pipelines. For example, JPMorgan received 630,000 applications for 4,100 intern roles in 2025, for an acceptance rate of 0.7%. That percentage is down from 2.8% in 2023.
Goldman, in particular, has been recalibrating its strategy. After years of aggressive hiring, the firm has shifted its focus toward efficiency.
Arthur told Fortune that although the firm can teach technical capabilities, it is harder to develop qualities like judgment, adaptability and critical thinking. As AI and advanced tools become standard in the workplace, she noted that technical fluency is no longer a distinguishing factor; what matters is how effectively individuals use those tools. Emotional intelligence, leadership and creative thinking are all essential skills that remain difficult to replace, she added.
Goldman’s internship numbers reflect its broader hiring approach. In July, the firm expects to add 2,500 full-time, entry-level employees, about the same size as its intern class, across client-facing, operations and technology positions, per Business Insider. BI notes that although the total is below the more than 3,000 permanent new hires during the pandemic-era expansion in 2021, it aligns with the bank’s hiring levels before Covid-19.
Key Takeaways
- Goldman Sachs accepted fewer than one in 100 applicants for its 2026 summer internship program.
- It is the third consecutive year its intern acceptance rate has stayed below 1%.
- The firm views its interns as a long-term investment in leadership; 40% of Goldman’s partners originally joined through campus recruiting.
Goldman Sachs has reached a new level of selectivity in its internship program.
The investment bank received hundreds of thousands of applications globally and accepted fewer than 1% of applicants this year, marking one of the lowest acceptance rates in its history, according to data shared with Fortune. A decade ago, the internship acceptance rate was about 5%.
“I think the selection rate speaks both to the strength of the opportunity and the caliber of talent we’re attracting globally,” Jacqueline Arthur, Goldman’s head of human capital management, told Fortune. The firm views its interns as a long-term investment in leadership, she said, adding that 40% of Goldman’s partners originally joined through campus recruiting.
