Milton Hershey School - Students and Student Life

Students and Student Life

Admissions are based on five major admissions criteria: (1) Age, (2) Financial Need, (3) Social Need, (4) Potential To Learn, and (5) Geographic Preference.

The school gives preference to students from Pennsylvania, and especially to students from Dauphin, Lancaster, and Lebanon counties. Tri-county students account for 28% of the student body, with another 49% coming from elsewhere in Pennsylvania. The remaining 23% of the student body comes from 34 other states and from the District of Columbia. In 1982, Milton Hershey School admitted its first international students, Ian and Edward Ritchie from Ottawa in Ontario, Canada.

As of 2009, the student population of the school is 1,818. Girls outnumber boys 945 to 873. The students are 46% Caucasian, 30% African American, 11% Hispanic, 1% Asian, less than 1% Native American and 12% other. Approximately 47% of the students have siblings who also attend MHS.

A married houseparent couple with child care experience provides full-time supervision for each residence, caring for 9 to 13 children of the same gender, and about the same age. A student will share his (or her) bedrooms with one or two other students.

As of August 2007, all senior students will live in the Transitional Living program, which places 4 students in an apartment, five apartments in a building, and two coordinators to oversee their actions. The program exists as a college-prep movement, in response to polls of MHS alumni which showed that many alumni felt unprepared for college. The TL program is notably more relaxed than the student homes, with fewer restrictions and rules. TL students do, however, shop for their own food with a $70.00 budget per week. They are also expected to keep their apartments and rooms clean, as well as biweekly chores around the building. As of August 2006, only 40 seniors are in the program (20 boys and 20 girls). They were chosen via lottery.

Students are "plainly, neatly, and comfortably clothed, without distinctive dress". Students wear a uniform of "coordinated clothing" to classes and other designated School functions. School policies say students may have a limited amount of approved leisure and dress wear, and if the student's family or sponsor cannot buy it, the school will.

Each child is encouraged to explore belief in God and in prayer, although the school is non-sectarian. By school policy, students are required to attend a weekly Judeo-Christian chapel service on Sunday mornings.

Student homes, academic buildings, and other facilities are mostly located within rough walking distance of one another. The centerpiece of the campus is Founders Hall with an auditorium seating 2700.

In September 2007, the School opened its Springboard Academy, a program geared toward new incoming sixth and seventh graders, to help with transition into the core program. In 2008, the program changed from sixth and seventh graders to eighth graders. Springboard Academy is housed on its own campus, where about 84 students live in cottage-like dormitories. This program features a non-traditional curriculum, where reading and math skills are taught in an experientially based setting.

Students are also encouraged to participate in activities such as visual and performing arts, athletics, student government association, mentoring/tutoring, and work-based learning. The school has seen success in such activities such as track and field, boys' basketball, boys' wrestling, and field hockey. Its athletic teams participate interscholastically in District 3's Mid-Penn Conference.

The school is the nation's biggest and wealthiest boarding school for needy children, with $7.5 billion in assets for 1,850 students. Hershey spends about $110,000 a year per student, according to its nonprofit IRS tax filing, more than the nation's most expensive and elite prep schools.