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The program will be available again in December 2024. Please return then to view the updated Eligibility and Awards for the 2025-26 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
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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.

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. Employees who have taken maternity leave, leave of absence, FMLA, short or long-term disability, or other company-approved leaves within one year are eligible. *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 (band 4 and higher) 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.

Important Information for One-Time Honorarium Recipients
Honorarium awards of $1,000 will also be granted. They are nonrenewable and 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

Scholarship America processes scholarship payments on behalf of The Hershey Company. Payment is made in one of the following ways:

  • For recipients in the U.S. and Canada, awards are disbursed in August payable to the school, and mailed to the recipient’s home address.
  • For recipients outside of the U.S. and Canada, awards are disbursed upon proof of enrollment and made payable to the recipient via wire transfer.

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
    • 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 13, 2025 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!

    Please make sure to add studentsupport@scholarshipamerica.org as well as the program email address provided below in the footer as safe senders in your email contact list.