<p>You’re paying because the school realized that people will pay for it. </p>
<p>I don’t understand how widespread these required internship credits are, but it’s pretty ridiculous in my opinion and I would avoid sending my kids to a school where they do something like that. Even worse, apparently there are a few universities out there which not only require internships for graduation, but require that those internships be unpaid, which is absolutely unjustifiable in my opinion.</p>
<p>“I would consider finding an internship without going through the school, then asking for a one-semester leave of absence. They are essentially charging you a semester’s tuition in return for helping find the internship.”</p>
<p>Agreed. Of course, this means that you are really paying for the privilege of being snotty enough to graduate exactly four years after receiving a high school diploma. Heaven forbid you be in the class of people who have to work their way through college or want some work experience because Daddy can’t arrange a job for them after graduation. </p>
<p>There are a lot of people willing to charge you lots of money to look rich.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I was a student teacher, and I was really learning more than “working.” It was classroom learning, but more on my part than on the part of the students. But maybe I just sucked.</p>
<p>At the time I student taught, I did not carry a 40 hour a week load, and we still had professors who worked with us outside of the classroom. We had to submit our lesson plans, which they had to take the time to evaluate. They also came to observe us and give feedback, and they also worked with the official teacher of that class on how to precept the student teacher, what the university requirements for the student teacher were so that the classroom teacher could guide and evaluate the student teacher, etc. It wasn’t like the university was a ghost during that time.</p>
<p>That was a LONG time ago, however, so I have no idea how it goes now.</p>