By Makenna Hall
Asst. News Editor
Susquehanna has joined 14 other Pennsylvania institutions in forming a partnership with Milton Hershey School (MHS) to provide assistance to their college bound students.
By establishing this relationship, Susquehanna has committed to providing coaching programs and resources to MHS alumni attending the university. According to University President Jonathan D. Green, all of the support initiatives MHS thought would be beneficial for their students are already implemented and offered at Susquehanna.
“It’s kind of nice when you can establish a relationship by just promising to be yourself,” Green said.
Green also stated, “One of the things that I found particularly exciting about formalizing this relationship is that I learned from our colleagues at the Milton Hershey School that their students who have enrolled at Susquehanna have typically had greater collegiate success here than at other institutions with whom they’ve had strong pathways.”
Because students of MHS have done so well at Susquehanna, Green said that this partnership will also focus on Susquehanna providing additional assistance throughout the counseling and advising of the college searching process, as well as engaging in conversation with their college bound students.
Additionally, Susquehanna will work on creating a better relationship between alumni of both MHS and Susquehanna with MHS students, so alumni can detail their experiences in an authentic way.
These partnerships were formed in order to increase the likelihood of postsecondary graduation for students with a low-income background, a rate which has been relatively low.
“For many of our low-income, first-generation college students, a comprehensive support system is vital to their success in college and beyond,” said MHS Vice President of Graduate Programs for Success, Tanya Baynham.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, as of May 2015 students with a low socioeconomic status were only 14 percent likely to attain a bachelor’s degree within eight years of high school graduation, compared to 29 percent for middle socioeconomic status and 60 percent for high socioeconomic status.
In reference to the programs and guidance MHS is offering Baynham said, “We just want to make sure we provide a ‘soft-hand off’ so they can be successful in their new environment and still provide our network of support.”
The school’s mission to help underprivileged children succeed educationally continues the legacy established by Milton and Catherine Hershey, as stated on the MHS website. Because they could not have their own children the Hersheys began the institution as a boarding school to help orphan boys in the area, then known as The Hershey Industrial School.
The school continues to be funded through the Hershey’s trust, which now allows nearly 2,000 boy and girl students a free, private education, according to the MHS website.
Green said that he anticipates Susquehanna will have established more partnerships with other institutions within the next few years, especially considering the relationships the school has been building internationally.