To crack the job market, internships can be just as key for young people as the degree

Ohio State researchers studying two paid STEM internship programs found that students who got substantive work and mentoring, rather than being used as inexpensive labor, saw real career payoffs. One program, Drive to Thrive, paired 635 community college students with Ford dealerships in an earn-as-you-learn model and reported graduation rates almost 50% higher than a matched comparison group.

A second program brought together students from a research university, a historically Black university, and a community college for a 10-week clean energy manufacturing internship with multiple mentors per student. More than half of 2025 participants had already secured a new internship or job interviews, and industry partners including Honda, Stellantis and Schaeffler indicated plans to rehire some of the 2026 cohort.

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