Internship Salary

While some interns are willing to work with an employer on an unpaid basis in order to gain valuable career-building experience, the pool of interested students will likely be much larger and of higher quality if you provide financial compensation for the work performed by the student intern.

How to Calculate a Competitive Internship Salary
A simple formula for calculating intern salary is to identify a fair entry-level starting salary for a similar position at your organization and multiply it by a percentage to determine the intern’s salary. The percentage will vary depending on the intern’s education level and experience. Hourly pay typically ranges from 60% to 80% of the hourly pay of a starting salary. The typical breakdown is as follows:

• Seniors: 80-85% of entry-level salary
• Juniors: 70-75% of entry-level salary
• Sophomores: 60-75% of entry level salary
• Web resources to find entry-level salaries 

Tips for Hiring Unpaid Interns
If your organization does not have the resources to pay an intern and would like to offer an unpaid internship, the following six factors must be met according to federal wage and labor laws under the Trainee/Learner criteria:

• The training is similar to that which would be given in a vocational school. 
• The training is for the benefit of the students. 
• The students do not displace regular employees. 
• The employer derives no immediate advantages from the activities of students.* 
• The students are not entitled to a job at the end of the training period. 
• The employer and student understand that the student is not entitled to wages.

*If the internship is more of a training/learning experience, as opposed to a job, it is typically acceptable if the employer derives some advantage from the student's service. The internship must be predominatly for the benefit of the student and not the employer.

For more details, please refer to the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) guidelines for a Trainee/Learner, found in the DOL's Field Operations Handbook (Chapter 10-B11).