Summer internship equity

In today's competitive job environment, securing a summer internship might be the deciding factor in landing a great job after college. Not only does the internship provide valuable experience in a field, but it also ensures networking opportunities -- students often gain indispensable contacts who will help them with references and connections later on.\nUnfortunately, many students across the country are almost immediately excluded from the option of a summer internship. Many internships are unpaid or come with minimal stipends in cities such as New York, Chicago or Los Angeles where the cost of living is astounding. Therefore, financial constraints limit the pool of outstanding students who can enjoy the privileges of summer internships. This dilemma intensifies when many schools or companies require students to enroll for internship credit, and pay tuition in addition to living costs for an unpaid or small-stipend internship.\nThere's nothing wrong with returning home to a job as a waiter or lifeguard in the summer, and such employment surely yields rewards beyond guaranteed summer savings. But let's face it: In the world of resume building and padding, a summer internship that offers experience in a specific field and career path carries more weight. \nEconomic privilege should not be the deciding factor in who realistically can pursue career advancing opportunities each summer. This barrier only serves to feed the chasm between the economically privileged and the rest of the country. Fortunately, some colleges and universities have recognized and started to combat this problem. The New York Times reported last week that several colleges and universities including Princeton, Yale and Smith College have implemented programs that provide financial support for internship opportunities. Primarily using donations from alumni, these institutions provide grants for summer opportunities to students with financial need.\nAccess to higher education continues to be a problem for many youth from underprivileged backgrounds. And considering factors such as the Senate's recent refusal to raise the maximum Pell Grant award for a fifth consecutive year (despite ever-increasing tuition costs nationwide), the problem of educational access will persist indefinitely.\nBut as the problem of economically exclusive internships demonstrates, opening doors to higher education is but only a step toward greater equity. We applaud the institutions (and their alumni) who have committed resources to correcting this gap in opportunity caused by economic hardship, and we challenge IU and its alumni to implement similar programs.\nIU provides some summer support -- for example, the Professional Experience Internship Grant from the Hutton Honors College -- yet, we wonder: How many exceptional students must forgo career advancing opportunities due to limited financial resources? It would be a valuable investment for the University and its donors to support students with financial need who might otherwise be forced to pass on a prized summer internship. Furthermore, such a pledge would signal a strong institutional commitment to addressing often forgotten nuances of the effects of socio-economic status on our students' prospects and futures.