Study: College Students Use Internships to Land Jobs, Not Explore Options
Credit: sturti /E+/Getty Images- Almost two-thirds of students in a survey said they were using experiential learning to build skills for their future careers. Only 13% said they were using it to explore careers.
- Students said paid internships provided them great professional networking opportunities and made them stronger candidates for the jobs they wanted.
- Several studies have linked experiential learning to better salary, growth, and satisfaction early in new grads’ careers.
The days of “finding yourself” in college — specifically, discovering what you want to do for a career — seem to have passed. According to a new study, students already know what they want to do and are using their experiences to upskill for their future jobs.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of students in a Strada Education Foundation survey said their primary reason for doing work-based learning experiences was to gain expertise in the fields they want to pursue. Only 13% said they were using these experiences to explore careers.
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From October-December 2024, Strada surveyed over 2,000 college seniors about seven different experiences that blend academics and real-world applications:
- Paid internships
- Unpaid internships
- Practicums
- Project-based learning
- Undergraduate research
- On-campus jobs
- Off-campus jobs
The foundation found that instead of using these experiences to explore various careers, students applied them directly to their chosen field of study. Almost three-quarters of the respondents said that gaining training for a specific career was important in their college choice.
These experiences also can pay off early in their careers.
A National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that graduates who took part in some form of experiential learning experienced faster career progression, more job satisfaction, and an average of $15,000 more in pay annually than those who did not do experiential learning.
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Skills and Salary Outcomes Make the Most Valuable Experiences
Strada survey respondents who participated in project-based learning (PBL) most often said their main goal was to gain skills for their planned profession. PBL involves students solving problems through their own hands-on design in class.Those doing undergraduate research followed closely behind with the same main goal.
A 2021 survey by the University of Central Florida shows undergraduate research also led to better outcomes. Students who engaged in undergraduate research continued their education at a higher rate compared to the general undergraduate population. They also graduated at a rate of over 10 percentage points higher than the undergraduate population.
While paid internships ranked third in the Strada study for most students using them to prepare for a career, students cited these experiences highest for making them a “stronger candidate” for the kind of job they want.
A prior Strada report also found that those with internships are linked to getting paid more after graduation.
Students Rate Experiences Involving Networking Highly
Developing social capital — relationships students can leverage to boost future job opportunities — can play a big role as students prepare for their careers.
According to respondents in the Strada survey, paid internships expanded their social capital/networking opportunities the most while project-based learning in a class did not expand professional networks.
Strada also found in earlier research that first-generation college students are much less likely to participate in network-building activities, making it crucial for students to find this in their work-based learning experiences.
Even though project-based learning experiences ranked low for networking, they rank closely with practicums and paid internships as the top ways to develop relevant technical skills for students’ career goals.
The Future of Work-Based Learning Experiences
While the work and educational spaces have largely been separate, schools are developing new programs allowing students to earn money and skills while completing a degree.
Degree apprenticeship programs mix work-based learning with earning a degree to create “more well-rounded employees,” said Devon Madon, a former college instructor at Loyola University and current co-owner of Madon Sheet Metal in Illinois.
“I have had my entire career very much shaped by academia, so I see the value of it,” she previously told BestColleges. “I feel like these two modes of learning are pitted against each other, but shouldn’t be.”
More employers value hands-on experience over just a single college degree. In the cybersecurity industry, for example, over 90% of employers said they’d only consider those with previous information technology (IT) experience.