Annual data reports on the structural mismatch between higher education and the modern economy. Free to read. Free to cite. Synthesized from federal data, industry research, and Forkaia® internal cohort data across 1,000+ partner institutions and 700+ partner employers.
Volume I of the Forkaia® annual industry report. 26 pages. The first published quantification of the gap between U.S. undergraduate enrollment, internship supply, and verified work outcomes.
21 million U.S. undergraduates. 3 million paid internships. 18 million graduate without verified work experience. This is not an internship-supply problem — it is a structural mismatch between how higher education credentials students and how the modern economy hires them. The first report to name the gap, size it, and introduce the new category of education that fixes it.
The most cited statistics from Volume I. Each is sourced from federal data (BLS, IPEDS, NCES) or industry surveys (NACE, Strada, Burning Glass) cross-referenced with Forkaia® cohort data.
Share of U.S. undergraduates who complete at least one paid internship before graduation. Down from 17.4% a decade ago.
Annual wage premium for alumni with verified internship experience vs. those without — compounding to $400K+ over a career.
Share of employers running skills-based hiring pilots that down-weight or eliminate the internship credential requirement.
Share of U.S. undergraduates who graduate with a verified, employer-signed work portfolio — the single most-trusted hiring signal.
Why supply has plateaued at ~3M while undergraduate enrollment grew 9.7% — and what it means for career services accountability.
First-gen, Pell-eligible, and underrepresented students complete internships at half the rate of their peers — and pay $400K+ over a career.
67% of employers are piloting skills-based hiring. 43% have moved at least one job family to "degree optional." What employers actually evaluate, ranked.
The credential market is consolidating around portable, verifiable, employer-signed proof artifacts. What "trusted credential" will mean by 2030.
Full definition. Four defining properties. Comparative table vs. internships, co-ops, bootcamps, and virtual experience platforms.
Anonymized outcome data from 1,000+ partner institutions and 700+ partner employers. Engagement, completion, credentialing, and equity-lift metrics.
Ten forecasts for the 2026–27 academic year and recommendations for career services, deans, employers, policymakers, and students/families.
State-level internship completion breakdown, full citation index across 13 federal and industry sources, and category glossary.
Every external number in the report is sourced from federal data, peer-reviewed industry research, or longitudinal alumni surveys. Forkaia® cohort data is anonymized at the aggregate level. Methodology available on request.
Forkaia, Inc. (2026). The State of Student Career Experience 2026. Forkaia® Annual Report Vol. I. forkaia.com/research
The annual report is one of three Forkaia® Research publications. Quarterly data drops, the LinkedIn newsletter The Parallel Track, and the annual report. All free. All citable.
Quarterly data drops + the annual report. No promotional email. No upsell. Just data, sent once when each publication ships.