{"id":160021,"date":"2026-02-18T16:52:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/160021\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:52:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:52:11","slug":"usf-internship-directors-students-address-bill-that-could-waive-minimum-wage-requirements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/160021\/","title":{"rendered":"USF internship directors, students address bill that could waive minimum wage requirements"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>House Bill 221 would allow employers to pay interns less than the state\u2019s minimum wage. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/CAROLINA MOLERO ROCA<\/p>\n

Florida employers could soon be allowed to pay interns and work-study students less than minimum wage.<\/p>\n

House Bill 221 would allow interns to voluntarily opt out of minimum wage requirements by submitting a waiver while prohibiting employers from coercing or pressuring them to do so, according to the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Each waiver would be valid for nine months after employment begins. This means if an intern continues with the company after this period, they must be paid \u201cat or above\u201d minimum wage, according to the bill<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Florida\u2019s<\/a> minimum wage is $14 per hour, while the federal<\/a> minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.<\/p>\n

HB 221 was filed<\/a> in October and is now in the Commerce Committee, according to the Florida Senate<\/a>. If passed, the bill will take effect on July 1.<\/p>\n

While some internships offered through USF wouldn\u2019t be affected, some students said they worry the bill could financially hurt them.<\/p>\n

Related: USF students share setbacks, successes in internship hunt<\/a><\/p>\n

Michael Shuman, the internship director for USF\u2019s Department of English, said he feels the bill would not have a \u201csignificant\u201d effect on the department\u2019s internship program.<\/p>\n

Shuman said that\u2019s because payment has been a \u201clow priority\u201d for students in the internship program.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the interns are more interested in the experience rather than payments,\u201d Shuman said. \u201cSo I just don\u2019t see the bill having a great impact one way or the other, on our specific program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shuman said he advises two internship programs at USF \u2014 the Legacy Program<\/a> and Mellon Humanities Internship Program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Legacy Program is offered through local businesses to Tampa-based students in the department and provides in-field experience, according to USF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Shuman said the Mellon Humanities Internship Program<\/a> offers students positions at nonprofit companies and compensates them through the Mellon Foundation scholarship.<\/p>\n

The scholarship is supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, which awarded the College of Arts and Sciences a five-year, $4.8 million grant last spring, according to USF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Laurel Friedman, the director of the Mellon Humanities Internship Program<\/a>, said its internships are \u201ctied\u201d to a grant with established compensation standards.<\/p>\n

Friedman said students are paid $20 per hour to ensure they are \u201ccompensated fairly\u201d for their work and professional experiences.<\/p>\n

This means HB 221 would not affect paid internships in the program, whether it passes or not, she said.<\/p>\n

Still, Shuman said he believes advisers in the Department of English would need to advise students if the bill were to pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we would have to educate the students on the waiver that the bill has,\u201d Shuman said. \u201cAnd I think we would have to monitor the employees to make sure that they\u2019re being compliant with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s future leadership unclear as bills to limit governor\u2019s role are delayed<\/a><\/p>\n

Grace Topouzoglou, a junior environmental science major, said she doesn\u2019t support the bill because she believes it is unfair to interns in workplaces.<\/p>\n

Topouzoglou said her major requires<\/a> students to complete an internship or research project for credit before graduation.<\/p>\n

Still, she said internships are scarce, and environmental science students are either \u201cseverely\u201d underpaid or unpaid while being expected to commit full-time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel it\u2019s unfair because interns do a lot of the busy work, and they\u2019re still contributing and working,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like it should at least be minimum wage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Topouzoglou said she is seeking an internship in environmental science but has not yet secured a position.<\/p>\n

Therefore, Topouzoglou said she would consider lower-paying internships as she needs to secure a position to meet her degree requirements.<\/p>\n

She added that employers should be clear about compensation in internship applications and interviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be better for employees to disclose the amount before continuing with the interview,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: USF graduate assistants share financial struggles as union seeks higher pay<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adam Elasri, a senior biomedical sciences major, said the bill is not good for the \u201cmajority\u201d of students.<\/p>\n

Elasri said monetary compensation was an important factor when he was searching for internships and jobs.<\/p>\n

Still, he said his priority was to find a position with networking opportunities rather than high pay.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had two options and they had similar experience and similar networking, I would be fine picking the one that pays more,\u201d Elasri said.<\/p>\n

Elasri said he believes HB 221 would not affect the job market overall because students are still filling unpaid internship slots.<\/p>\n

\u201cEmployers could only go so low before they reach a level or a payment that no one would accept, or a very small majority would accept,\u201d Elasri said. \u201cThere are definitely a lot of ambitious students that would take the opportunity, even if they\u2019re not getting paid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Elasri said that because the bill would allow employers to pay less per student, it could create more internship opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the bill makes it easier to get everyone on a level playing field find an internship position, I think that could be very positive,\u201d Elasri said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"House Bill 221 would allow employers to pay interns less than the state\u2019s minimum wage. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/CAROLINA MOLERO…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-160021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}