Wow, I’ve rarely seen a college get it so right. Here’s what Bates has to say about giving credits for unpaid internships:
Why, you may wonder, do some corporations have this requirement? The employer is not watching out for your academic career. In truth, they likely don’t care one way or the other; they simply want highly talented students to work for free. Their problem is that they are subject to minimum wage laws, which prohibit them from hiring unpaid interns, even if you are willing to work for free. So, in order to hire you legally, you must receive ‘something of value’ in return. The companies do not want to pay you money, so their solution is to have Bates provide the ‘something of value,’ namely academic credit. In short, they want to use Bates’ resources to pay you to work for them.
Hear, hear! This blog is increasingly skeptical about credits-for-internships.
Unfair Internships 