Paid college internships on the rise

On February 15, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) released the results from their Class of 2017 Student Survey which show that 61 percent of graduating seniors took part in an internship or co-op experience during their college careers. Among that group, nearly 57 percent of the experiences were paid, up from approximately 51 percent in 2011, when NACE began tracking compensation status. (See Figure 1.)

Pay for interns is most common in the private sector. In fact, paid internships at for-profit companies accounted for nearly 38 percent of all internships; in comparison, paid internships at nonprofits made up less than 11 percent of all internships.

Whether the trend toward paid internships will continue, however, remains to be seen. In January, the U.S. Department of Labor scrapped its six-part test and issued new guidance around compensation for internships; under the new test, if the intern is determined to be the primary beneficiary of the internship experience, he or she may be unpaid.

The survey was distributed through NACE-member colleges and universities nationwide, and garnered responses from 21,194 college students across all degree and year levels. The focus of the report is based on the responses from 4,213 bachelor’s degree students who were graduating as part of the Class of 2107 (academic year: July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2017). Data were collected from February 15, 2017, to April 30, 2017.

An executive summary of the report is available on the NACE website.

~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today   /   Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter