CCWT launched the National Survey of College Internships (NSCI) in 2018 in response to the growing interest in internships and related forms of work-based learning, which are widely seen as “high-impact practices” (HIPs) that contribute to students’ academic, social and career success. National studies on internships that focused on issues of equitable access, program structure and student outcomes hadn’t been conducted prior to the development of the NSCI framework. The need for data about internships became even more important with the Covid-19 pandemic and growing concerns about inequitable access to internships (especially unpaid positions), particularly for low-income, first-generation and other students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education. In documenting obstacles to internships and other indicators of equitable treatment of interns, the NSCI data allows institutions to identify and address these obstacles.
The NSCI instrument is organized around CCWT’s Internship Scorecard framework, which aims to capture three critical elements of a college internship: (1) purpose and prevalence, (2) quality, and (3) equitable access. In capturing these key aspects of an internship, the 58-item NSCI survey goes far beyond merely documenting whether or not a student has taken an internship.
In 2023, Strada Education began collaborating with CCWT to administer the survey instrument. Click here to learn more.