This only really applies to humanities students. Take a degree in the natural sciences, engineering, CS or mathematics and you may find that people are much more willing to part with money for your services.
I am now gainfully employed, but doing nothing related to my undergraduate/graduate education.
Internships are also a much better way to screen a potential full-time employee. The company gets 3 months to interview the candidate in a real work environment, instead of a few hours in front of a white board.
In my case (italy) hardly anyone will pay you a cent for your interniship even if you are an engineering, CS or math student.
Often companies (expecially if they are little) here see internship like a way to have free manpower.
Looking from a country prospective, expecially an economic point of view, it's not a long term solution if the majority of your students apply for interniship in a foreign country (even if EU).
Europe is not USA, we are not a single federal country but an "alliance" of many countries with different economies, rules, languages and even cultures which are in many cases an obstacle.
If it would be relatively easy for a californania student to apply for an internship in NY, would not be as easy for a polish student to go and take an interniship in portugal for the reasons listed.
I have typically been treated as a starting employee who's simply only going to be around for 3 months, not an "intern". Maybe this is just West Coast tech companies, I don't know.
Yep. I know some pretty poorly paid programmers.
I feel for my friends (and others) who had to work all summer, perhaps during the year, without pay in order to pad their resumes.