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Bachelor’s-level interns have experienced a steady growth in their average hourly wage since 2013. This year continues the upward trend, according to NACE’s 2019 Guide to Compensation for Interns & Co-ops.

For 2019, the average hourly wage earned by interns is $19.05, up $0.32 since last year and the highest hourly wage thus far for interns. (See Figure 1.)

The fields of study with the highest average hourly wages for bachelor’s-level interns are computer science, engineering, physical sciences, and math/statistics. The lowest wage rates appear among the education, human resources, and agricultural science fields.

The average hourly wage for co-ops, too, had been climbing. Over the past three years, it rose from $16.97 in 2016 to $19.35 last year. This year, however, the hourly average dropped $0.66 to $18.69. (See Figure 2.)

The fields of study for bachelor’s-level co-ops with the highest hourly average wage rate are health sciences, engineering, computer science, and physical sciences. The lowest average hourly wages are within the humanities, human resources, and communications fields.

NACE’s 2019 Guide to Compensation for Interns & Co-ops provides wages and benefits information gathered from the 262 NACE employer members—representing 28.2 percent of the association’s employer members—that took part in NACE’s 2019 Internship & Co-op Survey. That survey was conducted December 3, 2018, to February 22, 2019. The 2019 Guide to Compensation for Interns & Co-opsis available free to participating organizations through MyNACE; it is also available for purchase through the NACE Store.