New research: technical university students get the best paid internships

In 2016 master’s students received EUR 400 as an internship fee on average. Converted to today’s prices, it  it only EUR 350 in 2023. This was the finding of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB, in Dutch) which was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to look into the number of students receiving payment between 2016 and 2023.

The sectors where interns from TU Delft end up are relatively well paid (see page 15 of the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis report, in Dutch). University master’s students who do internships in the natural sciences, mathematics or computer sciences sectors receive the highest average payment of all interns, about EUR 430 a month. These are closely followed by the technology, industry and architecture sectors at about EUR 420 a month. These sectors are the most affected by the tight labour market and technology companies use internships as a means of recruitment, says the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.

Unpaid internships

The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis shows that more than 85% of higher professional education students get paid for internships (see page 7 of its report, in Dutch). This is much more than university students (12 percent for bachelors, more than 30 percent for masters). But whether this means that university students do more unpaid internships is hard to say. The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis does not distinguish between students who do unpaid internships and students who do not do internships at all. The share has been stable for years.

Unpaid internships are still common, mostly in education. This angered the previous Minister of Education, Robbert Dijkgraaf. He believed that ‘there is still a way to go’. “Certainly in times of major personnel shortages in which we do everything we can to deal with the shortage in teachers, all education internships should be valued.”

The Dutch National Student Association has been drawing attention to the low or lack of internship payments for a long time. “Every student deserves payment for an internship,” says Mylou Miché, its Chair.  “It should not make a difference what degree programme you do.”

HOP, Olmo Linthorst/Delta, Kim Bakker