Main header image

The application program will be available again in December. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the upcoming academic year! If you are an applicant who would like to discover more scholarship opportunities you might qualify for, please continue to the Scholarship America Hub and sign up!

Hershey Scholars Program
Application status: Closed
Pour imprimer le formulaire en français
Para imprimir o formulário em português
Para imprimir el formulario en español

The Hershey Company has established a scholarship program to assist children of employees who plan to continue their education in college.

This program is administered by Scholarship America®, the nation’s largest designer and manager of scholarships and other education support programs for corporations, foundations, associations, and individuals. Eligibility for individual programs is determined at the sole discretion of the sponsor, and eligible applications are reviewed by Scholarship America’s evaluation team. Awards are granted without regard to race, color, creed, religion, sexual orientation, gender, disability, or national origin.

Applicants to the Hershey Company Scholarship Program must:

  • Be a dependent child of a full-time active or continuous part-time employee who has a minimum of one year of continuous uninterrupted employment with The Hershey Company or its divisions or subsidiaries as of the application deadline.
    *Dependent children are defined as unmarried children up to age 19 or up to age 26 if the child is a full-time student at an accredited institution. Eligible children include stepchildren, children of a domestic partner, children legally placed for adoption, legally adopted children, or the legally adopted children of an employee’s spouse or domestic partner, and children for whom the employee is a legally designated guardian.
  • Be a high school/secondary school senior, graduate, or current postsecondary undergraduate.
  • Be enrolled or planning to enroll in a full-time course of study at an accredited two- or four-year college or university. Brazil applicants may be enrolled part-time.

Children of appointed and elected officers at executive salary grades are not eligible to apply to the program.

Awards

If selected as a recipient, the student will receive an award ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 (U.S. Dollars). Awards may be renewed up to three additional years or until a bachelor’s degree or equivalent is earned, whichever occurs first. Renewal requirements include satisfactory academic performance, full-time enrollment, continued employment of the recipient’s parent at The Hershey Company and continuation of the program by The Hershey Company.

Awards are for undergraduate study only.

Selection of Recipients

Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of:

  • academic record
  • demonstrated leadership and participation in school and community activities
  • work experience
  • a statement of educational and career goals and objectives
  • unusual personal or family circumstances
  • an online recommendation.

Once scholarship recipients are selected, financial data is reviewed to determine the amount of each award, ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Honorarium awards of $1,000 will also be granted for one-time only. Recipients whose parents choose not to provide the requested financial information will be eligible to receive a minimum award only. Recipients who receive one-time honorarium awards cannot reapply to the program in future years as this award is one-time only.

Recipients are selected by Scholarship America. All information received is considered confidential. In no instance does any officer or employee of The Hershey Company play a part in the selection. Decisions of the selection committee are final and are not subject to appeal. The program is competitive; not all applicants will be selected as recipients.

Notification

Applicants will be notified in April. Not all applicants to the program will be selected as recipients. Students may reapply to the program each year they meet eligibility requirements.

Payment of Scholarships

Payment (except in Brazil) is made in one installment in August. Award payment to recipients in Brazil is made in one installment in December. Scholarship America issues checks on behalf of The Hershey Company for The Hershey Scholars Program.

In the U.S. and Canada, checks are mailed from Scholarship America to each recipient’s home address. In plant locations outside the U.S.A. or Canada, checks are distributed to the employee parent by a Hershey Company official.

Awards to students in Brazil will be sent via wire transfer.

Checks are made payable to the school for the student for U.S. and Canadian students.

As part of your application, you must upload the following:

  • A current, complete transcript of grades. Grade reports are not accepted. Transcripts must display student name, school name, grades and credit hours for each course and term in which each course was taken.

    NOTE: If you are providing SAT or ACT test scores, and those scores are not listed on your high school transcript, you will need to upload an official copy of those test scores separately. If you are uploading a college transcript, those scores are not required.

One online recommendation form must be submitted on your behalf no later than February 14, 2023 3:00 pm Central Time.

Your application is not complete unless all required materials are submitted electronically.

The Hershey Company has partnered with Scholarship America. Selecting the button below will redirect you to the Scholarship America Student Hub!