Internships may or may not be paid — though, if they are unpaid, they’re usually subject to stringent labor guidelines.
It is the responsibility of each employer to determine whether an internship should be paid or unpaid based on labor laws. Each employer’s human resources department should be familiar with labor laws in order to determine eligibility based on the organization’s specific internship opportunity. Minimum wage and overtime laws cannot be avoided merely by labeling a position as an internship.
The FLSA requires “for-profit” employers to pay employees for their work. Interns and students, however, may not be “employees” under the FLSA—in which case the FLSA does not require compensation for their work.
Refer to The FLSA Test for Unpaid Interns and Students
Students who took paid internships were more likely to get a full-time job post-graduation, as well as make a higher salary than students who took unpaid internships, according to a survey of the graduating class of 2015 by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.