Employers expect to accelerate intern hiring by 22.6% for the class from the 2021-2022 academic year, according to data from the 2022 Internship & Co-op Survey, released last week by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

The survey found that both small and large companies have increased their projected intern hiring, driving the gain.

According to the report, 46.8% employers plan to provide a hybrid internship experience, while 25.8% will hold exclusively in-person internships, and 2.2% are planning to conduct fully virtual internships.

The survey also noted that between two equally qualified candidates for an internship position, employers favor making their decision based on the preferred major and whether the student has held a leadership position.

Overall, most interns get little or no relocation assistance from employers. Slightly more than half of responding employers offer this type of assistance to interns and less than a quarter offer it to co-ops.

“The jump in intern hiring is all the more significant as it comes following a drop in 2020-21, when employers trimmed intern hiring by 0.5%,” said Shawn VanDerziel, NACE executive director.

“These findings for interns also align with projections for full-time hiring in our Job Outlook 2022 Spring Update survey, as employers indicated they expect to increase their full-time hiring by 31.6%.”

NACE’s survey for the current report included 183 respondents representing 22.4% of eligible member respondents. Data collection took place from Nov. 10, 2021, to Jan. 12, 2022.