Approximately one-half of employers responding to NACE’s 2026 Internship & Co-op Survey report that they provide financial relocation assistance to interns, a benefit that they say also boosts their experiential education programs.
Organizations that offer relocation assistance believe supporting interns with housing and/or travel helps them mitigate a potential financial barrier to participation stay competitive, and attract a more qualified pool of potential interns.
Those employers that are offering relocation assistance tend to favor lump-sum payments to cover housing ($3,310) and travel expenses ($1,417) rather than reimbursement. (See Figure 1.)
Employers consider several factors when determining their relocation dollar amounts, including:
- A cost-of-living analysis;
- The distance from the job site;
- The duration of the program; and
- The program type.
They also refer to certain guidelines—which are primarily distance-based—to ascertain how much to offer. These guidelines include:
- Interns from greater than a 50-mile radius;
- A flat rate for all interns;
- Interns traveling from out of state; and
- Intern’s travel distance to work location.
NACE surveys its employer members yearly to gather benchmarks on internship and co-op programs. NACE conducted the survey for the 2026 Internship & Co-op Report, sponsored by 12twenty, from October 15, 2025, to January 4, 2026. A total of 284 organizations took part, including 192 NACE member organizations (26.1% of eligible member organizations), 48 12twenty member organizations, and 44 other companies. Participants can access the NACE’s 2026 Internship & Co-op Report and dashboard in MyNACE.
