Abstract: From the perspective of cost-benefit analysis, the cost-benefit and influencing factors of 109 enterprises in Zhejiang and Shanghai that participated in the internship of vocational schools were studied by structural interviews. The findings are as the following: during the internship, the company is profitable on the whole, but there are still more than 40% companies that are in losses; the short-term costs or benefits of enterprise are mainly related to human costs or benefits. The break-even point and payback period of enterprises' participation in internship are respectively in the 4th and 8th month of students' on-the-job internship, but there are huge differences between enterprises. The low student retention rate makes the long-term benefits of enterprises participating in the internship not high. The cost and benefit of enterprises participating in internship are all significantly affected by some enterprise characteristics and internship characteristics, and short-term cost and benefit have a significant impact on long-term benefits. It is necessary to establish a cost-sharing mechanism, standardize the internship content, respect the formation cycle of post skills, enhance the short-term interests of enterprises, and establish the cost-benefit accounting mechanism to subsidize the companies that are in losses. Meanwhile, it is necessary to strengthen the exchanges and communication between schools and enterprises and improve the enthusiasm of enterprises to work with the schools so as to promote the quality of students’ on-job training.

Key words: enterprise, vocational education and training, internship, cost-benefit analysis, rentention of students