The purpose of this dissertation research was to gather data about how students felt about their public accounting internships and to understand how their internship experiences affected their feelings toward public accounting and their career paths. One small, private, Midwest business college was selected for this case study research. Nine students were interviewed to obtain in-depth data and 41 survey participants responded to a web-based survey to add breadth to this research. Interview participants selected pseudonyms to preserve anonymity. Interviews were conducted face to face and then transcribed. Themes that emerged from the interviews included: 1) unknown expectations, 2) the buddy system, 3) feelings of ineffectiveness, 4) other intern support, 5) hours worked, and 6) career path. The findings from this study describes how students felt after they completed a public accounting internship. Based on the findings of this study, further research should be conducted about student perceptions of public accounting internships to determine if modifications to public accounting internships are needed in order to align student and firm expectations. These findings have implications for not only students considering public accounting internships but also for public accounting firms that hire interns looking to improve student satisfaction about internships. As public accounting firms continue to compete to hire the best students as interns, a modicum of awareness about how students perceive these internships would be beneficial in restructuring an effective and satisfactory internship program. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]