internships: Your road to success
According to a landmark study out of UCLA, 85% of first-year college students in 2015 considered getting a “better job” as “very important” to their choice of where to go to college (Eagan et. al. 2016). This was, by far, the most important factor when choosing a college since 1965, the first year the survey data was collected.
Research consistently shows that experiential learning in college is key to preparing students for a career. College students who complete EL programs are more likely to achieve high GPAs during their undergraduate studies (Astin et al, 2000), find full-time employment after graduation (Gault et al, 2010; Bradberry & De Maio, 2019), and attend graduate or law school (Bradberry & De Maio, 2019). Moreover, participating in service experiences was found to improve students’ racial understanding, leadership abilities, interpersonal skills, and commitment to activism (Astin et al, 2000).
The logic here is straightforward. Experiential learning in college is key to students’ ability to get a better job. The prospect of getting a better job is key to a college’s reputation and brand. It follows, then, that a robust experiential learning program can positively impact a college’s brand. Indeed, a long line of research backs this up; universities with robust EL programs tend to earn better reputations (Weible & McClure, 2011; Divine et al, 2007) and attract higher rates of student enrollment (Weible & McClure, 2011). Indeed, data indicate that “Reputation/academic quality” and “Career outcomes/job opportunities for graduates” were among the top six most pivotal considerations of high school seniors deciding what college to attend (Reid, 2017).