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<p>Nice idea, but won’t work. The internship is considered a 400-level class so it can’t be substituted like that. </p>
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<p>I intend to do something. Not sure what yet, but something will happen in the near future. Unforunately our class is so small that I don’t think us “binding together” will have a real big effect-- there’s only 5 of us.</p>
<p>5 can make a difference if you go together to the dean. It also can make a difference if you go to the school newspaper. You also can involve the students coming behind you who’d also have to eventually pay for a course for which they’re getting no supervision, etc.</p>
<p>^Agreed. Students do have a voice at most universities. It always starts with a small group. If you could really get your entire internship class to say how ridiculous this is (even if there’s only 5 of you), I think that’d be a pretty powerful message to a dean.</p>
<p>This is a clear cut enough example that even those students not in the program might rally behind you.</p>
<p>A newspaper article sounds like a great idea (trust me, the journalists are always looking for /something/ to talk about!!).</p>
<p>Back in 1987, my DH & I both paid for 15 credits at our local public university so that we could have internships in broadcasting in NYC.</p>
<p>Fast forward to 2008 and I paid for 3 credits at our large state flagship to do a practicum at a large private university. </p>
<p>So, it’s common practice.</p>
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<p>When the OP first posted, he never suggested there wasn’t someone running the internship program, or that he had to find his own internship. He only mentioned the director of the ‘program’ (which program is it - the academic program or the internship program?) wouldn’t be paid for it.</p>
<p>Frankly, I doubt the quality of a program that requires an internship, but does no investigative work, assessment or follow up of that internship. As an employer, I’d be more concerned about that, than whether or not the student had to pay tuition.</p>
<p>By the way, I’d say by the number of examples given here, it goes to show that there are many different ways colleges/universities manage the money they receive from students, including whether or not student teachers pay tuition toward their student teaching. When I was in undergrad, I had an option of doing an internship vs. taking a certain required upper-level class. I chose the internship because I thought the experience and networking would be more valuable, but yes, I (or my parents) had to pay tuition for that internship.</p>
<p>Get used to the idea that, in the real world, there will be things you have no control over and things you can do something about. Accept it.</p>
<p>"When the OP first posted, he never suggested there wasn’t someone running the internship program, or that he had to find his own internship. "</p>
<p>OP has since clarified…? </p>
<p>“Frankly, I doubt the quality of a program that requires an internship, but does no investigative work, assessment or follow up of that internship.”</p>
<p>Right, that’s the problem.</p>
<p>“As an employer, I’d be more concerned about that, than whether or not the student had to pay tuition.”</p>
<p>Well, the STUDENT would be pretty concerned about paying tuition for a dubious program, wouldn’t he? That’s what we’re talking about, right? </p>
<p>“Get used to the idea that, in the real world, there will be things you have no control over and things you can do something about.”</p>
<p>I think where you spend your money is something you have control over. University policy is something students have, if not control over, a significant say in. </p>
<p>“When I was in undergrad, I had an option of doing an internship vs. taking a certain required upper-level class. I chose the internship”</p>
<p>Well, it’s good you had the choice…but OP doesn’t. You could have easily taken the class and gotten the internship on your own. You chose not to.</p>
<p>“By the way, I’d say by the number of examples given here, it goes to show that there are many different ways colleges/universities manage the money they receive from students”</p>
<p>Most posters are failing to read through the thread and are giving situations that are not analogous to OP’s. A college FINDING you an internship is one thing…a college throwing you out on your own and expecting you to pay them for no help, is another.</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, I had the same experience. My adviser for practicums wasn’t familiar with my physical location and gave me the name, phone number and email address for a person who had retired over a year earlier. This is within a very small field and the person who retired had worked for the preeminent institution in this field within the same state. I felt totally incompetent when I was contacted by his replacement. The good news was that almost all the others that I came into contact with at the practicum site had gone through the program I had, and had experienced the practicum advisers lack of help so it ended up being a good bonding story ;)</p>
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<p>One in the same. The Program Director is also the supervisor for our internships. Basically all the university requires is that they have a contract between the intern, the university, and the internship site. Sure they have places where they have established connections with internship locations. In fact, I did an internship last summer (not for credit) with a team that has had students from my school before. But I also had other connections to that team because I knew one of the previous interns from my school through my summer job.</p>
<p>I can certainly understand OP’s discontent. There ARE many ways that universities approach field placements. I must wonder how often prospective students investigate the internship/field placement dynamics before choosing a college or enrolling in a particular program. It is difficult enough when applying to colleges to be a savvy consumer and navigate the merit and financial aid possibilities of different schools.
That said, I imagine some departments/programs are more expensive to run than others and internship tuition income is used to offset programs and services that do not pay their own way. Such practice is not uncommon in many industries. (ex.: healthcare) Is it possible that some university services were “great/good deals?”
I am not saying that this makes it right, or that you should accept it without question. It is very hard because you are in a bind when you need the credits in order to graduate. I see your situation as a balloon payment at the end of a fee schedule. </p>
<p>As communication becomes more global, conversations such as these on CC will occur. Transparency should result. Check out the thread on need based vs. merit aid. It sure opened my eyes as DS2 navigates the college app process. Now I feel like I had better investigate the support for internships at the schools where he has applied.
OP, you have done a service to others by raising this issue. Please post as this unfolds.</p>
<p>I talked to our former program director this weekend. He was put into this same situation a year ago. A couple of things in this particular case…</p>
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<li>Our specific program requires an internship. Not the university-the program. </li>
<li>In order for us to require an internship, it must be a “class” in order to remain in compliance with our accreditation standards. Also, our liability insurance would require the same.</li>
<li>For a summer class to “go,” it must have a minimum of 12 students.</li>
<li>In years past, he said they would “pro-rate” the advisor’s compensation based on how many students were enrolled if less than 12.</li>
<li>The advisor is supposed to visit the site at least once if it is within 100 miles of the university.</li>
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<p>He said one option that our program director has would be to eliminate the internship requirement if she doesn’t want to do it “for free.” That would be bad for the university both in reputation and in the pure profit that it’s making now. Also, though, I feel it would hurt the students because it means they won’t get quite the same experience and the networking.</p>
<p>So an update… </p>
<p>I have secured an internship for this summer that I will be getting paid for. I doubt that I will make enough to pay for my internship credits, but at least I will only be losing money due to paying the University. I will be provided with housing and meals along with an hourly stipend. </p>
<p>So far I have met with my advisor twice regarding internship stuff. Sat down with her the other day to sign the paperwork. All of 15 minutes… yep the credits I’m going to be paying are definitely getting me a lot of this wonderful institution.</p>
<p>Sorry, I haven’t read through all the posts, but it is absolutely reasonable to pay a per credit hour fee to receive credit for an unpaid internship. If the student didn’t do the internship and decided to take other courses, those would have to be paid for. If an internship is “required” but the student does not receive credits for it that count toward the total for graduation, that might be another matter.</p>
<p>Also I dislike the idea that you are “paying” for something so quantifiable – ie. the teacher’s salary, someone inputting the credit in the system, etc. No, what you are paying for is an education. The tuition that is paid to a university covers many things including the professor’s salary, support for TAs/GAs, the library, facilities maintenance, utilities, advising, counseling, tutoring, computer service, secretaries and support staff, insurance for the buildings, maybe some scholarships, recruitment and retention efforts, etc. You are paying for what it costs the university to educate each student. The university counts that by credit hour usually. That’s generally why if you take over a certain number of credits per semester/quarter, you often have to pay a supplement.</p>