Unpaid internships are a prominent feature of the college experience for many students — especially so for students of color. But they also widen income inequality: For those who come from economically disadvantaged families, it’s not always an option to work for free.

To counter this, a new program called Project Onramp Philadelphia seeks to connect low-income, first-generation college students to paid internships at companies within the region’s booming life sciences sector.

Onramp was announced this week via a collaboration between two local nonprofits: Philadelphia Futures, which supports low-income high schoolers who would be the first in their families to attend college, and Life Science Cares Philadelphia, which connects life science pros to poverty-fighting volunteer opportunities.

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