Poll shows college students value internships

Students who have recently entered college or will apply in the next couple of years are scrutinizing universities for the value of the education they offer — and most of them think that education should include internships, according to a new national survey.

The survey, released Tuesday by Northeastern University, looked at the educational values held by “Generation Z,” or those born in the mid-1990s and later.

It found that while 81 percent of respondents saw a college education as important to their careers, 67 percent said they had concerns of how to afford that education — and 79 percent believed that an internship or professional experience should be included in a college degree.

But many of the internships available are unpaid, and these internships can be costly for some students, especially when they could be working a paid job over the summer instead.

Damola Akintunde, a UNC sophomore, said she needs financial help to cover the cost of an internship opportunity this summer.

“I’m trying to look for a scholarship for over the summer, so that’s one of my bigger issues: summer and graduate school,” Akintunde said.

A Gallup poll from August also found concern among college presidents across the country that their students aren’t prepared for employment upon graduation.

Of the 801 college presidents who responded to the survey, 78 percent said internships where students can apply classroom learning in real life are vital to employment after graduation. Just 38 percent of respondents said that their own institutions are adequately providing their students with internship opportunities.

Ray Angle, director of UNC Career Services, said he believes UNC does well in providing its students with competitive internship and employment opportunities.

“In comparison, we do really well in that we have employers who are wanting to attract UNC students for their positions,” he said.

Angle said while UNC does what it can for its students, an internship is something a student seeks out and earns, not a gift from the University.

Brown University, on the other hand, has launched a new program, BrownConnect, that links students to alumni for internship opportunities.

“Our mission is that BrownConnect will increase the number of high quality summer internship and research opportunities available, specifically for Brown first years, sophomores and juniors,” said Aixa Kidd, director of the program.

Kyle Hodges, a UNC sophomore majoring in journalism, said he sees plenty of internships available through career services. On the subject of actual employment after graduation, Hodges was pessimistic.

“There’s always a Starbucks. As far as something in journalism, actually in my field? No, absolutely not,” he said.

Akintunde and Jordan Latham, a sophomore mathematics major, are both Carolina Covenant scholars whose financial needs are met during the academic year — but they don’t necessarily receive aid for their summer opportunities, like internships.

Latham also expressed concerns about paying for graduate school but said that she is satisfied with opportunities provided by UNC.

“In my field that I’m going into it’s a better opportunity, but for some other fields it may be a little harder, especially when it’s a lot of competition.”

state@dailytarheel.com