Students know a prized internship can provide much-needed real-world experience that can lead to a job offer by graduation day. It can also mean a hefty paycheck to help finance your education.
Eighty-seven percent of paid interns received at least $15 per hour last year, but many earned much more. Data released on Tuesday from job-posting site Glassdoor showed average hourly pay for interns has reached $24.63, up 11% from 2021, with the highest pay at $54.38.
The findings were based on average monthly pay reported by interns on Glassdoor between March 1, 2022, and Feb. 28 of this year.
As college costs soar and President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan hangs in the balance at the Supreme Court, students can try to boost their finances by earning extra cash to defray expenses.
“You can gain valuable work experience and make money at the same time,” Fremont University in Cerritos, California, says about internships. “A paid internship will provide money to fund your college tuition and expenses.”
Where are the highest-paid internships?
Fintech company Stripe offered the highest average paid internship at $9,064 a month, or more than $108,000 annually, Glassdoor said. Online gaming platform Roblox came in second with monthly pay of $9,017, and semiconductor company Nvidia rounded out the top three at $8,280.
Cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase ranked fourth with a pay of $8,206. But the company's positive business outlook stood at just 39%, according to Glassdoor.
The “positive business outlook rating data can signal whether the company might be hiring this summer (or in the near future),” a Glassdoor spokesperson explained.
In January, Coinbase said it would cut about 20% of its workforce in a second round of layoffs in less than a year. It cited adverse economic conditions and disruptions within cryptocurrency markets.
Nvidia, by comparison, had a positive business outlook of 95%, with Roblox at 75% and Stripe at 56%, meaning all of those are more likely to have paid internships this year than Coinbase.
Though 16 of the top 25 highest-paid internships were tech companies, Glassdoor notes its list includes five finance companies including Citi and Capital One; three consulting firms including Bain & Co. and McKinsey & Co., and Rivian, the only auto manufacturer in the group.
