SEE Resources

SEE Position on Unpaid Internships

There have been numerous discussions and articles about paid and unpaid internships.  The National Society for Experiential Education has held a consistent position regarding this matter for a number of years.  The Society's current stance is described below:

An institution should have a policy to favor paid work positions for students whenever pay can be arranged in work environments that have the potential for meeting the student's goals. Outdated policies that prevent students from being paid for their work if they are receiving college credit are discriminatory because they often preclude participation by low-income students. Credit is for what students learn; pay is for what they provide to the field sponsor. The two are neither mutually exclusive nor conflicting.