Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
June 6, 2012 

Just over 55 percent of the Class of 2012 took part in an internship or co-op at some point during their college career, according to results of NACE’s 2012 Student Survey.

That’s up slightly over last year: Approximately 52 percent of the Class of 2011 reported having an internship/co-op experience.

The majority of the experiences reported by 2012 graduates were undertaken in the private, for-profit sector (55.2 percent). Not-for-profit (21.5 percent), education (15.2 percent), and government (8.1 percent) employers accounted for the rest.

Excluding “student-teacher” positions, nearly 47 percent of the experiences were unpaid. In fact, nearly one-third of internships in the for-profit sector were unpaid.

NACE’s 2012 Student Survey was conducted mid-January through April 30, 2012. Nearly 48,000 college students nationwide, including 15,715 seniors at the bachelor’s degree level, took part in the survey. A report based on results from graduating seniors will be available this summer.

See also: A Definition and Criteria to Assess Opportunities and Determine Implications for Compensation.