I interned at Ballad for two years and was encouraged to apply for a scholarship about a year before graduation. The scholarship included a work commitment following graduation. I asked to know the salary range so that I could make an informed decision about whether the work commitment made sense for me. I was satisfied with the initial range, but after a year went by and they officially offered the job after graduating, they undercut it by almost $10,000. I attempted to counter and reminded them what they had told me initially. They said no, this new lesser offer was their final offer. As I spoke to others about my situation, I learned that Ballad had a reputation for doing this with students across other departments. I was floored and scrambled to decide what to do. Another person I interned with simply accepted the job as she felt she had no other choice. I applied to other jobs in my field and realized how much even the original offer was undercutting my earning potential. I also felt betrayed and concerned that if they would mislead me here that they would be likely to do so in other ways once I was a full-time employee. About two months later, they came back with an improved offer. The leadership directly in my former department kindly advocated for raises for everyone and I suppose HR/leadership finally listened. It was still less than what I was originally told and by that point I had already been offered other preferable opportunities for employment. When I declined, they requested scholarship repayment the same day. There had been a term in the contract about paying back prime plus 2% interest. Sadly, I did not know what this term meant or what it was intended to mean, I simply thought it meant the balance plus 2% interest. Prime actually meant "prime interest rate" which is essentially a number no one can predict. I ended up paying Ballad over a thousand dollars in interest for a "scholarship" that I held for a year once it became a loan. They made money off of a student/intern who worked there for free for two years with no complaints. I would have been much better off simply taking out a federal loan at a much lower interest rate with multiple options for repayment plans. I can't go back in time and change any of this, but I can tell my story. I hope other students don't fall prey to the enticement of scholarship/job offer without recognizing the major strings attached it. Towards the end of my internship, I saw massive turnover (~10 people) and I couldn't understand why. It makes much more sense now.
