Unpaid internships offer a logical but slippery compromise: an individual works for free to gain experience and skills that will, in theory, help the individual obtain a job that pays in the future. In the middle of financial and employment crises in the U.S., the compromise seems fair.

Unpaid internships are much more common today than they were twenty years ago, when most of this college generation was born. The Medium reports that in 1992, 17% college graduates worked an unpaid internship. Today, 50% of college graduates work an unpaid internship.

According to CNN, each of those unpaid interns owes an average of $27,000 in student loans. Obviously, the lack of pay is inconvenient, but there is also no guarantee that the internship will lead to a paying job.

Unpaid internships are not protected by the same rights that paid employees are. The Civil Rights Act, for example, only applies to interns if they receive correct compensation for their work. Oregon passed a law in June expanding discrimination and harassment protections to interns, paid and unpaid. They are so far the only state to do so.

In Sept. 2011, Alex Footman and Eric Glatt sued Fox Searchlight in a class-action lawsuit for violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act, claiming that the duties they had performed under their unpaid internships on the set of the Academy Award-winning film “Black Swan” were actually the duties of employees; they therefore needed appropriate compensation.

On June 11, 2013, Judge William Paley III of the New York federal court ruled that Fox Searchlight was in violation of the act and owed Footman and Glatt employee salaries. Following the case, Deadline Hollywood reported that several other internship compensation lawsuits against NBCU, Conde Nast, Warner Music and Hearst Corp emerged after Judge Paley’s June 11 ruling, calling into question the legality of unpaid internships in the U.S.

It is important to note that unpaid interns have rights. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, unpaid internships at for-profit companies can be unpaid if they meet two criteria: they must be for the “benefit of the intern” and “similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.” Many departments at Loyola, such as the mass communication and English departments, allow students to work unpaid internships for class credit.

USA Today reports that unpaid internships are most common in creative fields and that even The White House famously hosts unpaid interns. Since Loyola is a liberal arts school, many students may end up working an unpaid internship if they have not already.

Unpaid internships may be a necessary evil and a more common stepping-stone today for college students seeking careers. However, it is important to be aware of one’s rights, especially if you take an unpaid internship after graduation. Don’t trust the companies looking for free labor to tell you your rights. Familiarize yourself with federal labor laws and the laws in your state.

Don’t be afraid to ask the companies questions about your work and your financial and legal compensation. Also, if you do disagree with the legality of certain unpaid internships, don’t be afraid to tell your local and state representatives. As you search for jobs in the future, remember that both your work and your time have value, no matter what level of skill you have.