<p>DD just got offered another summer internship with the company she interned with last summer. She had a great experience last summer and would definitely consider returning. I was kind of surprised that they only increased her hourly rate by $1/hr and there was no increase in housing allowance. She is a civ major working at a large construction company in mid-Atlantic area. </p>
<p>Does anybody have an idea of what the hourly rate range is for civil engineering internships? Is it unacceptable to try to negotiate a better rate?</p>
<p>Civil internships are low paying compared to other engineering majors. At my school the median is about $2800/month (they’re not always clear on whether or not that includes housing). That works out to about $17.50/hr. If she’s getting somewhere between $15 and $20/hr she’s probably getting about the market rate right now.</p>
<p>If this is a company that takes lots of interns then they probably have a rate that they pay everyone that she can’t really negotiate against. She might be able to negotiate if this is a small company that only has her as an intern. I don’t know about the culture in the industry though so I don’t know it if would be appropriate to try or not.</p>
<p>Thanks - I did some additional research and it looks like she is slightly above the mean on the hourly rate and when you figure in the housing allowance, she is above market by a few dollars an hour. </p>
<p>This company hires about 12 interns a summer - not a huge number but not insignificant either. I think you are probably right that they have a set rate for 1st and 2nd year interns. </p>
<p>She is very excited to be asked back again - she can’t say enough good things about her experience last summer. I think she will still attend her school’s job fair and see what else is out there but it’s great to have this opportunity again.</p>
<p>I got a raise of one dollar every time I went back to my co-op company. No housing allowance and I worked in Chicago. She’s doing well probably.</p>
<p>Last summer (after his freshman year), my S a Civ-E major worked at an internship paying $10/hour (with no housing assistance). Since he’d only completed one year of basic courses, it seemed a good opportunity to get some experience to put on a resume. It also helped that it was located near relatives that he was able to stay with and so had no living expenses during that time.</p>
<p>I’m hopeful that with experience on his resume, he might be able to find a better paying position for this summer, but I think at this point the experience gained is far more valuable than the money earned.</p>
<p>No doubt about the experience aspect of the internship being more important than the money. Her experience last summer exceeded expectations - lots of learning opportunities, formal training days, mock bid day, social events and a really interesting project. Pretty much everything you would hope for.</p>