50+ Internship statistics to get ideas (Payment, trends & more)

Internship is a vital process for both students and companies. Throughout the process, students take the very first steps toward their work-life. They can get to know their future job and work experience before starting their job. So, internships are a good start for college students before becoming full-time employees. 

While it is important for students, internship is also an essential process for companies. Mutual agreements are an important part of the internship process. If you want to learn more about internships, we have gathered 50+ eye-opening internship statistics to get ideas about payments, trends, and more!

Highlighted statistics about internship

Knowing a topic's statistics will help you approach the issue more scientifically. Statistics will also help you improve your plan without taking risks and spending less money. Moreover, you can compare the data to create your plan. You can find the highlighted statistics about internships in the list given below:

50+ Helpful statistics about internships you need to know

If you are a student looking for internship opportunities or an employer who needs a young and dynamic team, you will need good statistics to have a more solid opinion about the internship and job market. For that reason, these 50+ statistics about internships in different categories might help you:  

General internship statistics

General internship statistics is a great beginning to have a general idea about the topic. Just after graduation or before graduating, lots of colleges and employers look for internship offers. In the list given below, you can find lots of statistics regardless of the type of internship. Check these general internship statistics:

1. 67.9% of students seek internships to get experience and skills in their academic fields. (The Hilltop)

2. In the U.S., 60% of the internships are paid, and 40% are unpaid. (The Hilltop)

3. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employees (NACE) data, Project management and problem-solving tasks are considered the most time-consuming tasks for interns. (NACE)

4. For employers, two of the most important aspects are project management and analytical skills. (LinkedIn)

5. Companies desire interns with critical thinking, communication, and teamwork abilities. (NACE)

6. 65% of students believe it is extremely important to understand how businesses or companies operate. (Forage)

7. Only less than 30% of interns indicated that the resources or knowledge available were extremely satisfactory. (Forage)

8. White interns made up 74% of the internship population. (NACE)

9. Only 6% of paid interns were black students. (NACE)

10. 30% of interns who have educated parents are more likely to choose unpaid internships.  (Taylor & Francis Online)

11. Being from a developed country increases the possibility of accepting an unpaid internship by 75%. (Taylor & Francis Online)

12. About 40% of students wanted to do an internship but would not since they had to work for a paid job. (NSCI)

13. Spanish is the most spoken foreign language among international students (51.5%). (Zippia)

14. 50% of interns have undergone internship programs more than once. (Forage)

Source: The Hilltop

Internship statistics about pay

College graduates or student interns might intend to complete an internship program for many reasons. They would like to gain experience, want to know how to improve themselves, or have internship experience in their dream companies. However, interns might have expectations for a payment, too. You might need to have a look at these internship statistics about pay:

15. Companies provide paid holidays and organize special events for interns. (NACE)

16. In 2019, Facebook raised the salary for interns from $15 to $18. (Vox)

17. 81.7% of paid interns started looking for a job right away. (NACE)

18. Google pays its interns $7,500 monthly. (Business Insider)

19. Dell pays its interns $4,333 monthly. (Business Insider)

20. Facebook has the highest paying internship amount, $8,000 monthly. (Business Insider)

21. Boeing Co. pays $4.167 for its interns monthly. (Business Insider)

22. 59.4% of businesses giving relocation help also provide funding for interns. (NACE)

23. The greatest-paying internships are at technological firms such as Uber, Facebook, Salesforce, and Google. (Business Insider)

24. Only 5% of companies repay their interns for their tuition. (NACE)

25. Paid interns are 34% more likely to receive at least one job offer in post-graduation. (College Recruiter)

Internship-to-job retention statistics

Students who want to complete their internship might not necessarily remain at the same job. However, at the end of the internship, it is possible that employers offer a full-time job.  However, when they continue their job, this affects the job retention statistics. Check these internship-to-job retention statistics:

26. 43.9% of former interns who were recruited internally continued with the company after five years. (NACE)

27. The retention percentage is 37.3% for interns who completed their internships outside of the company. (NACE)

28. 71.4% of the employees who stay with the business for up to a year remain. (EnterpriseAppsToday)

29. The retention percentage for co-op recruits with exterior experience is 42.2% over 5 years. (NACE)

30. The retention percentage for co-op recruits with internal experience is 50.3% after 5 years. (NACE)

31. The retention percentage for co-op recruits with exterior experience is 42.2% after 1 year. (NACE)

Unpaid internship statistics

It is still a debated topic whether interns should be paid for their work or not. While students believe they should get paid, some employers believe they already pay them for great work experiences. If you are wondering about the statistics, here are unpaid internship statistics:

32. Unpaid internships are 77% more likely to be done by women. (Euracitv)

33. The most typical industry for unpaid internships is social services. (NACE)

34. More than 40% of interns are still unpaid. (CNBC)

35. Many legal experts believe that unpaid internships are illegal. (College Recruiter) 

36. In 2019, just 43.7% of unpaid interns got an offer for employment. (College Recruiter) 

37. More than 84% of companies arrange social events for unpaid interns. (NACE)

38. Nearly 500,000 Americans work as unpaid interns every year. (Forage)

39. Unpaid internships are common among students who study human development, fashion merchandising, or journalism. (NACE)

Source: Euracitv

College internship statistics

There are some kinds of professionals requiring internships. However, college students still want to do internships. Internship programs not only improve college student's abilities but also leave them with excellent memories not to forget. Look at these college internship statistics:

40. After finishing college, 31% of student interns start their jobs. (Chegg)

41. Because of COVID-19, 38% of college students had no plans for an internship program in 2020. (RippleMatch)

42. Only 7% of college interns said they prefer check-ins every 30 to 60 minutes. (Yello)

43. 30% of college interns want video conferences with their superiors or bosses. (Yello)

44 22% of college students believe that online conference meetings make no difference. (Yello)

45. Only 6% of college interns want face-to-face meetings instead of online. (Yello)

46. 35% of college students claim that virtual programming exercises must be done several times for the entire class throughout their internship program. (Yello)

47. 43% of college grads are underemployed in their first employment. (WSJ)

48. The typical annual salary for new college grads working full-time is $47,470.(WSJ)

49. 21.5% of college students complete an internship program. (NSCI)

50. In their time in college, half of the students complete more than one internship. (Chegg)

Source: The Chegg

Popular internship trends in 2023

In this section, we have gathered the most recent and popular internship trends of 2023 to follow up. In the explanation given below, you can find insightful information and choose your internship path according to it:

Key points to take away

In a nutshell, internships are a great starting point for student careers. Throughout the process, students gain many insightful experiences and information about their future jobs. On the other internships can be a process for students that is stressful and complicated. However, as long as students and companies mutually agree and make their research good, both sides will be happy and satisfied at the end of the internship.

In order to help you make your research better, in this article,  we have collected 50+ eye-opening internship statistics for you to have a better and more professional understanding of the subject!