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It may seem like the perfect way to learn: a semester or summer working at a company in the field that a college student or recent graduate is entering, perfecting skills of their craft.

Though the job is an unpaid internship, experience and information gleaned may be priceless.

But with the recent rise of unpaid internships – possibly due to the economy – the practice is being scrutinized by the U.S. Department of Labor for violations of minimum wage laws.

The New York Times reports the Labor Department is cracking down on firms that fail to pay interns properly and expanding efforts to educate companies, colleges and students on the law regarding internships nationwide.

“If you’re a for-profit employer or you want to pursue an internship with a for-profit employer, there aren’t going to be many circumstances where you can have an internship and not be paid and still be in compliance with the law,” said Nancy J. Leppink, the acting director of the department’s wage and hour division.

A National Association of Colleges and Employers survey found that 50 percent of graduating students had participated in internships; in 1992, 17 percent had held internships.

But would an intern even complain even if turned out he or she was being treated unfairly?

Maybe not, some say, if they think complaining will hurt their chances of success in the field.

There are six federal regulations in place for an internship to qualify as unpaid, including a requirement that the internship doesn’t displace regular workers and the employer derives no immediate advantage from the intern.

But, a San Francisco Chronicle blog post pointed out, those regulations were written in 1947 and the criteria needs to be updated and Congress should step in with legislation; unpaid interns have no protection against harassment or discrimination.

“To put it bluntly: For some employers, the internship has become about taking advantage of free labor rather than a mutually beneficial exchange of work and training for employers and students,” the post stated.