Paying for Internships

In an interesting article in the Washington Post, they discuss the rapidly growing practice of not only not being paid to work, but in fact paying to work. This practice has apparently been growing in recent years as more and more students are looking for a static number of internships. These placement firms often provide housing and some services, as well as promising connections and coveted jobs. However, all this comes for a fee, and there are many downsides to it. There have been accusations that many firms do not do the proper research on employers or accommodations, and are really just there to take students' money.

However, many students do participate in these programs voluntarily. The article interviews a University of Michigan student who participated in one of these programs, and even though she is not receiving college credit for her internship, and had to pay for it, she feels it was worth it for the experience. But is this right? Many interns do provide tangible benefits for firms that they work for, and often do the work that more experienced people will not do. They are already usually not paid for this work, but is it right that they should also pay for this experience?