Today’s students pay more for college than any previous generation, and more and more colleges require them to take on internships as a condition of graduation. But students with unpaid internships wind up paying twice―by paying the college for internship credits, and by paying for their own labor during the internship.

Millions of students simply cannot afford to intern for free. The average unpaid intern actually pays about $6,000 out of pocket over the course of their internship, through travel, food and housing costs. At the same time, most colleges require students to pay for course credit accrued through an internship. For example, Emerson College in Boston charges students $6,408 for four-credit internships.

This means that even if an internship is paid (which many are not!), all or nearly all of the income earned by the student is then handed over to their college or university. This severely limits who is able to access college internships―paid or unpaid.

More than past generations, students today tend to be older, a person of color, from a low-income background, must work full-time and must take on debt in order to attend school and graduate. College internships are increasingly necessary to graduate and start a career.

Sign the petition to college and university presidents across the country demanding higher ed institutions stop double-charging students for credits accrued through unpaid internships. This creates a scenario where only the wealthiest students are able to afford internships.