People often look to colleges and universities as champions of education and basic human rights. However, they have unrightfully advocated internships because students believe them to be extremely valuable, and universities ignore their responsibility to educate students about their rights. In fact, college students understand internships to be so valuable that they will even sacrifice essential things in life for it, like housing. According to an article in the New York Times, “Unpaid Internships, Complicit Colleges” by Ross Perlin, universities often make it possible for large companies to avoid labor laws that are meant to protect workers such as student interns. As institutions of higher learning increasingly encourage, and sometimes
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As credible evidence, The United States Department of Labor states, “the employer must derive “no immediate advantage” from the students work, and both sides must agree that the student is not entitled to wages” (500). This evidence is credible due to the background and prestige the United States Department of Labor possesses. Some institutions even fear the government laying down the law on their educational misconduct to the point they are asking officials to turn a blind eye. Clearly something dubious is happening if 13 university presidents told the Labor Department, “While we share your concerns about the potential for exploitation, our institutions take great pains to ensure students are placed in secure and productive environments that further their education” (500). Perlin’s use of the letter shows how educational systems are trying to frantically cover their tracks and attempt to be on the Labor Department’s good side in case they catch on to their devious behavior. The evidence Perlin uses here is not sufficient due to the fact that it is only focusing on 13 university presidents, and not all the university presidents …show more content…
As credible evidence Perlin states that, “…Menlo College, a business-focused college in northern California, which sold credits to a business called Dream Careers. Menlo grossed $50,000 from the arrangement in 2008, while Dream Careers sold Menlo-accredited internships for as much as $9,500” (500). Perlin uses Menlo College as a specific example to support his argument sufficiently by giving statistical data that shows how colleges use academic credit to vastly benefit themselves. Perlin provides the reader with more data to support his claim that reads, “A survey of more than 700 colleges by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 95 percent allowed the posting of unpaid internships in campus career centers and on college Web sites. And of those colleges, only 30 percent required that their students obtain academic credit for those unpaid internships; the rest, evidently, were willing to overlook potential violations of labor law” (500). The survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers is relevant since is shows how colleges are advocating unpaid internships and how many require students to obtain academic credit for unpaid internships in order to benefit themselves
As credible evidence, The United States Department of Labor states, “the employer must derive “no immediate advantage” from the students work, and both sides must agree that the student is not entitled to wages” (500). This evidence is credible due to the background and prestige the United States Department of Labor possesses. Some institutions even fear the government laying down the law on their educational misconduct to the point they are asking officials to turn a blind eye. Clearly something dubious is happening if 13 university presidents told the Labor Department, “While we share your concerns about the potential for exploitation, our institutions take great pains to ensure students are placed in secure and productive environments that further their education” (500). Perlin’s use of the letter shows how educational systems are trying to frantically cover their tracks and attempt to be on the Labor Department’s good side in case they catch on to their devious behavior. The evidence Perlin uses here is not sufficient due to the fact that it is only focusing on 13 university presidents, and not all the university presidents …show more content…
As credible evidence Perlin states that, “…Menlo College, a business-focused college in northern California, which sold credits to a business called Dream Careers. Menlo grossed $50,000 from the arrangement in 2008, while Dream Careers sold Menlo-accredited internships for as much as $9,500” (500). Perlin uses Menlo College as a specific example to support his argument sufficiently by giving statistical data that shows how colleges use academic credit to vastly benefit themselves. Perlin provides the reader with more data to support his claim that reads, “A survey of more than 700 colleges by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 95 percent allowed the posting of unpaid internships in campus career centers and on college Web sites. And of those colleges, only 30 percent required that their students obtain academic credit for those unpaid internships; the rest, evidently, were willing to overlook potential violations of labor law” (500). The survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers is relevant since is shows how colleges are advocating unpaid internships and how many require students to obtain academic credit for unpaid internships in order to benefit themselves