10 National Universities That Produce the Most Interns
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Many schools hail internships as a great way for students to supplement their academic and theoretical classroom study with practical experience. At Clarkson University in upstate New York, for example, real-world experience is at the heart of the school's educational programs, and at three of the schools within the university, completing a "professional experience" is a prerequisite for graduation, according to the Clarkson website.
[Avoid these 10 internship mistakes.]
Perhaps that's part of the reason why Clarkson topped the list of National Universities with the highest rate (86 percent) of graduating seniors with internship experience. Of the 330 ranked colleges and universities that reported internship data to U.S. News in 2012 for the graduating class of 2011, an average of 36.9 percent of students held internships at some point in their undergraduate studies.
At the 48 National Universities--a U.S. News ranking category that encompasses large research institutions--that provided internship data, that average was a bit lower: 29.6 percent. But among the top 10 National Universities for student internships, half of which were on the East Coast, an average of 62.3 percent of students held at least one internship.
Schools designated by U.S. News as Unranked were excluded from this list. U.S. News did not calculate a numerical ranking for Unranked programs, because the program did not meet certain criteria that U.S. News requires to be numerically ranked.
Below is the list of the 10 schools that produced the largest percentage of interns among the class of 2011:
National University (state) | Bachelor's degrees awarded (2010-11) | Percentage graduating with internship experience | U.S. News rank |
|---|---|---|---|
Clarkson University (NY) | 603 | 86 | 115 |
Colorado School of Mines | 669 | 81 | 77 |
Dartmouth College (NH) | 1,076 | 72 | 10 |
Clemson University (SC) | 3,443 | 67 | 68 |
Pace University (NY) | 1,481 | 65 | 174 |
University of Pittsburgh | 4,212 | 59.9 | 58 |
University of Memphis | 2,680 | 52 | RNP* |
Syracuse University (NY) | 3,122 | 50 | 58 |
DePaul University (IL) | 3,463 | 45.3 | 134 |
Stevens Institute of Technology (NJ) | 485 | 45 | 75 |
*RNP denotes an institution that is ranked in the bottom one fourth of its rankings category. U.S. News calculates a rank for the school but has decided not to publish it.
Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find information about internships, as well as complete rankings and much more.
U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2012 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported a myriad of data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News's data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News's rankings of Best Colleges or Best Graduate Schools. The internship data above are correct as of Nov. 20, 2012.
