UW–Madison’s Michael Hora was recently quoted in the New York Times discussing the ongoing debate over intern compensation.

The article highlights a campaign by unpaid government interns in New York seeking fair compensation and notes that, according to some labor estimates, roughly four in 10 interns still are not paid.

Hora, an associate professor of adult and higher education in the Departments of Educational Policy Studies and Liberal Arts & Applied Studies, studies how students transition from college to the labor market. He is also the founder of UW–Madison’s Center for Research on College-Workforce Transitions.

“It still feels kind of ludicrous in 2026 that we’re still having this conversation,” Hora told the New York Times.

Reflecting on his research and advocacy around paid internships, Hora recalled contacting the office of a top Wisconsin elected official a few years ago to ask why interns were not being compensated. “They never had an answer, and they just ended up stopping returning my calls,” he said.

“It’s something that is so embedded in government internships. It’s truly mind-boggling,” he said.

Read the full New York Times article.