The conclusion came out of the blue without any sort of justification:
"""
Is it true that if the Labor Department cracked down on these internships and forced companies to pay the minimum wage, there would be fewer unpaid internships and students would be deprived of an invaluable experience that, as we established, can be worth more than a college education? Yes.
"""
In the companies for which I've worked (media production and software), paying the minimum wage for internships was hardly a problem. The people in these internships were often senior-year or better, easily worth twice what they were being paid.
This article broaches an interesting topic, but is really poorly written and doesn't do any real analysis of the situation besides summarizing an interview. I'd love to read an article that did those things.
""" Is it true that if the Labor Department cracked down on these internships and forced companies to pay the minimum wage, there would be fewer unpaid internships and students would be deprived of an invaluable experience that, as we established, can be worth more than a college education? Yes. """