Editorial | Costly confusion

This summer, many Penn students will pay hundreds - even thousands - of dollars to work for free.

Companies have long used college students as a source of free labor by offering unpaid internships.

Still, employers are often wary of violating labor laws in the process, so they want to compensate students with academic credit.

But many universities - including Penn - won't give academic credit in exchange for an internship. Penn only provides a "notation" on the transcript, and Communication students have the not-so-enviable option of paying nearly $3,000 for an online "Communication Internship Seminar."

In short, students are stuck in the middle of a legal mess. They can either pay to work, not work at all or hide from their employers the fact that they're not receiving academic credit.

Needless to say, it's unfair to put students in that situation.

Something has to give.

That something is the policy concerning unpaid internships in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which causes this confusion in the first place. School administrators, industry officials and legislators need to clarify the labor laws dealing with unpaid internships and if necessary, make an exception for college-student interns.

Students have already accepted working for free. Don't make them jump through hoops to do it.

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