In what the university plainly regards as striking a blow for economic justice, Columbia University has announced that students will no longer receive academic credit for their internships.
What does academic credit have to do with economic justice? Like many others, Columbia is responding to a movement to stop institutions from offering unpaid internships. The idea is that they should at least be paid the minimum wage.
The movement has its origins in lawsuits filed by former interns against companies from Fox Searchlight to Condé Naste claiming they were exploited because they weren’t paid for their work — even though they knew the deal when they took it.
Columbia, of course, is a private institution, and as such we believe it firmly within its rights to decline to give academic credit for internship experience. But this doesn’t mean that unpaid internships are wrong, or that their decision will mean more paid internships for Columbia students.
The Columbia University Center for Career Education Web site itself says the value of internships is that they offer an inside view of an industry and allow students to make professional connections and get field experience and skills that will help them in their chosen careers. We agree, and it’s clear that many young people are willing to give up wages to gain these benefits.
Unfortunately, the lawsuits against these internships have led many companies to conclude they are simply more trouble than they are worth. The irony of Columbia’s position is that it’s more likely to ensure a losing trifecta for its students: no internship, no pay and no college credit.