Interns represent a substantial, casted work force in this country. Here in Washington, some 20,000 young people descend upon the city each summer, filling bottom-rung, unpaid positions in think tanks, with advocacy groups, and within the federal government. Capitol Hill beckons nearly 4,000 interns alone.

Students from poor economic backgrounds that have gotten over a first major hurdle, gaining acceptance to universities and garnering enough financial aid to enroll, now struggle to keep pace in a second sphere, now that employers have come to weigh out-of-class experience almost as highly as in-class performance.

Summer internship experience has become "crucial," in the language of most college career development offices, students needing to have "proven themselves in the workplace" if they hope to land a prestigious or well-paying job.

A big-time internship between junior and senior years has become a prerequisite for applying to entry-level positions in the financial world. Indeed, most banks elect to hire the majority of their freshman classes from the previous summer's intern pool.

The freedom to take on a summer internship is simply an issue of class. Most of the opportunities are unpaid; those that do pay rarely offset costs in New York and Washington, where spending $1,000 a month on rent is considered reasonable. To stay in a shared room at American University in D.C. over the summer, for instance, costs between $850 and $1,000 a month.

The government and corporations alike often skate labor laws by offering "academic credit" as compensation for work rendered. Aside from the seemingly inevitable difficulties that arise from tempestuous registrars and arrogant universities — who'd rather credits were earned on campus — there exists a much larger problem: Low-income students have no manner of cashing in on such compensation. Loans from banks to colleges and grants from financial aid offices can't be pulled from an ATM to pay rent, or for lunch, or to grab a coffee with the deputy chief of staff for the representative from one's home district.

The intern caste, those kids that can easily afford to spend summers living and working in New York or Chicago or D.C., largely couldn't care less about the credits earned. They'll likely take the same number of classes over the same period of time regardless of what credits they've accumulated.

Outside-the-classroom education has become a mainstay of sorts. Many schools now also offer externships, too, pairing their students with alums over winter breaks and even sometimes shorter recesses. The opportunities offer little more than an unpaid shadowing experience, but to a generation that's been raised and trained to make themselves look good in ink, an externship may provide a big name to drop or a little filler on a rather bland looking C.V.

And, naturally, an industry is developing around aspiring elites and the cash flows they control. Like private college counselors — who for tens of thousands of dollars will walk young, affluent applicants through the college processes — for between $7,000 and $10,000 dollars, the University of Dreams will brush up a resume, hold your hand through the application process, guarantee an internship, and provide housing at a nearby university. For $3,400, the Washington Internship Program will clean a resume and cover letters, and edit assignments interns take on during their internships.

The issue of access cannot be solved. Simply put, the more affluent have better connections and often live closer to the best opportunities. Such cannot be changed, but a critical first step to righting this discrimination does exist, and it lies with Congress. For less than $13 million, senators and representatives could pay all interns $10 an hour. While it's by no means great — and likely not even a livable wage in D.C. — it would help defray rent and travel expenses. Between a month of work at home and eight paid weeks in the district, most college kids can walk away from the summer having turned a profit and gained "invaluable" experience. If I've ever heard of a reasonable earmark, that certainly sounds like one.

Other government agencies, too, should stop benefiting from the work of the wealthy, and make sure opportunities are extended to all of America's aspiring, regardless of class. State, Defense, and the Department of Justice all have robust intern programs that should not be allowed to remain as unpaid positions.

Roping in private firms will be more difficult, likely impossible, but steps in the right direction are steps nonetheless.

Brian Till can be contacted at [email protected]. To find out more about the author and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.