University of Dreams offers internship support at a price

At the University of Dreams, students can get the internship they have always wanted. The company helps place the student in the industry, city and job of his or her choice. The company can even secure lodging, meal plans and transportation to and from the internship. That is, not to mention the one-on-one coaching and planned excursions on the weekends.

There is only one catch - the $6,000 to $9,000 price tag.

An increasing number of students have turned to third parties to help them secure the internships they want. Eric Lochtefeld, CEO of University of Dreams, said the promise of a "guaranteed internship" has led to 1,000 percent growth at the company in the past five years and $10 million in revenue.

Enrollment numbers have been exploding at non-profit organizations too. Joe Starrs, director of the Institute on Political Journalism at the Fund for American Studies, said a student can find an internship on Capitol Hill in journalism, public relations, or government work, earn credit hours through Georgetown University, be assigned a professional mentor and be plugged immediately into a large network of working alumni.

"I do feel a student needs to have an internship under his or her belt when entering the workplace," Starrs said. "It gives that competitive edge over peers who did not secure an internship or do as many internships."

However, those benefits also come with a $6,200 fee.

Lochtefeld said there is often tremendous pressure of landing a job after graduation. This means putting up money for an expensive internship or an intermediary is sometimes necessary.

Marianne Green, assistant director for the experiential programs at the Career Services Center, said she feels paying for internship placement is unnecessary.

"If you have a ton of money and want to throw it away, fine," Green said. "I'm just saying you can do it on your own, and you can do it through Career Services practically for free."

She said the key to entering the job market after graduation is job experience, not necessarily internships. For fields such as counseling, teaching and psychology, volunteer work might be just as beneficial.

For those who do want to seek an internship, the university's career database is currently listing more than 1,200 internships, Green said.

Jason Mycoff, director of internships for the political science department, said he usually places 20 interns per semester, and places 10 more over the summer and winter.

"Companies are constantly looking for interns - you don't have to beat the bushes," Mycoff said.

Lochtefeld said he has no problem with career service programs.

"We are big fans of the Career Center, but do they get the job done?" he said.

Lochtefeld said his company steps in when career service programs fail - like when a student wants to enter an industry in a major city far from where they live. His company deals with the travel logistics, much like a study abroad program and claims to be passing the savings onto the student by buying in bulk and arranging a short lease that will only last as long as the internship.

He said the majority of students taking advantage of his company's services were those who wanted to secure financial internships, but in recent years the focus has turned to the entertainment, public relations and other "female-dominated" industries.

Internships were beneficial, but not vital, because they allowed students to find out whether they actually like the industry they were interning at and led them to where they really wanted to work, Lochtefeld said.

Mycoff said he agrees that internships can influence a student's career path.

"It helps you figure out what you do and don't like about a certain area of interest," he said. "If you're thinking of going into politics, and want to see what life is like as a candidate or public official, it certainly allows you to see life in that capacity. It's generally low risk, and you're only volunteering for a short period of time."