Internships are extremely valuable in many different aspects. First of all and most obvious is that they give you school credit. You also get to actually use was you are learning in your regular classes on a daily basis. What you may think is trivial or boring in class will fall under a totally different light when you see it actually being used to reach a real life goal. Internships also give you a glimpse at what your future may hold. It gives you the opportunity to make sure you are really doing what you love.
     I think that the most value of an internship comes later after the internship is completed. Companies today love to see internships or "real world" experience on a transcript. Today unless you are coming from a school very well known for computer science, you look just like any other Computer Science graduate. And to be fair, you really are. Any Computer Science graduate today can read and write code in C++, Java and maybe a few others. That is great, but what makes you a better candidate than any of the other thousands of computer science graduates. Internships are the key. The fact that you experience and you have already been put in a working environment proves to employers that you are an excellent candidate for position in question.