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Most students will be able to watch “Good Morning America” from the comfort of their homes this summer, but second-year sociology student Adeline Chen will be part of the show’s team.

Sitting in on producer meetings, researching stories and working closely with TV personalities such as Diane Sawyer, Chen will take part in an internship that could potentially jump-start her career in broadcasting.

But obtaining internships like these is often only half the struggle.

Many non-paying internships like Chen’s require by law that students receive course credit for their work as a means of compensation. But receiving course credit can be a fairly expensive and complicated process.

Paying $1,000 to receive course credit through New York University this summer to intern at “Good Morning America,” Chen and others wonder why students have to pay to work.

“It makes no sense to pay to work for free,” Chen said, adding that it is the experience that is most important for her.

Fortunately, some students can utilize the UCLA Center for Community Learning, which allows students to enroll in internship courses that grant course credit.

“For profit companies, the state of California requires them to offer some sort of monetary compensation and, if not money, school credit. That is where we come in,” said Orlando Luna, program coordinator at the center.

Just like enrolling in UCLA Summer Session courses, taking this route can cost students up to $585 in exchange for a maximum of four unassigned units.

Dario Bravo, manager of internships and the study abroad office at the UCLA Career Center, said requiring students to receive course credit for non-paid, union companies is not something new.

Though receiving course credit by law is mandatory, paid internships or non-profit organizations are exempt.

Through UCLA, the course runs 10 weeks and requires students to turn in weekly two-to-three-page journals to their assigned department coordinators in addition to an eight-to-10-page research paper due at the end of the course. Instead of attending class, students attend their internship.

However, in order to enroll students must be of at least junior standing, another drawback that restricts some internship-seeking students from utilizing UCLA’s services.

“It’s an experiential education,” Luna said. “The university feels that 90 units is the minimum to apply what you have learned in the classroom in your internship.”

Shaili Pezeshki, a second-year undeclared student, recently began interning at a public relations firm, only to be temporarily released.

She was fired solely because she was not receiving course credit for her internship. Though her boss told her at the time it was not necessary for her to receive credit, she was later told that it had become a legal issue and needed to be addressed.

Pezeshki, like many students, does not want money or course credit, only the valuable experience.

“I’m trying to establish ties in the public relations field,” Pezeshki said. “Why does it matter? It’s for yourself.”

Unable to utilize the Center for Community Learning because of the junior standing requirement, Pezeshki has to look into other options to receive course credit, such as community college.

But having to pay to work is unsettling, she claims.

“I hate it because I pay enough as it is. I don’t need to pay more to do something that I am already willingly giving my time for,” she said.

Calling the process of finding out how and where to receive course credit a “hassle,” Pezeshki said the decision should be left up to the individual doing the internship.

“They should really give the decision to the intern if the intern does not mind the slave labor,” she said.

To save money, some students try to receive credit through a community college. Though many save hundreds of dollars doing it this way, some colleges, like Santa Monica City College, are now requiring students to enroll in another class in addition to the course that grants them credit.

“(Some companies) don’t understand that it is harder for students to enroll to get course credit – especially in the summer, because it is not part of tuition,” said Chen, who choose to do an internship last year through a nearby junior college and was required to take an additional course.

“It’s not easy. It requires time, energy and paying attention to deadlines,” Chen said. “On top of applying for an internship, it’s like applying to something entirely different.”