25% BY 2025: AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES URGED TO ACT AS RESEARCH BY BEYOND ACADEMY REVEALS ALMOST 90% OF STUDENTS GRADUATE WITHOUT AN INTERNSHIP.
LONDON, March 6, 2023: Research by Beyond Academy has found that, while internships are widely accepted as the key to career success, just 13% of US graduates have undertaken one by the time they leave university. This means that 87% of graduates are entering the job market with no industry experience at all – a huge 37.2 million of our sample.
Some universities boast higher internship rates, the top university being Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA with a still relatively low 20%. However, many fall well below the national average, with the lowest-ranking institutions barely reaching 1%.
In light of these findings, Beyond Academy are urging universities across the United States to invest time, money and resources into boosting internship rates, with an ambitious goal of raising the national figure to 25% by 2025.
“A national internship rate of 25% would dramatically increase productivity across the board, helping to bridge the gap between states while giving an overall boost to the economy,” they said in their 2022 report.
“This is an ambitious target, but would mean approximately 4.4m more graduates going into the workplace with the skills and knowledge to succeed. Doubling the rate means twice as many graduates going into their career with hard-earned experience and real industry insight – which means they’re ready to hit the ground running.”
Source and To see a full breakdown of the results and find out where your state university ranks, you can read the report here.
