The Milton Hershey School is a private philanthropic (pre-K through 12) boarding school in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Originally named the Hershey Industrial School, the institution was founded and funded by chocolate industrialist Milton Snavely Hershey and his wife, Catherine Sweeney Hershey. The school was originally established for impoverished, healthy, Caucasian, male orphans, while today it serves students of various backgrounds. The Milton Hershey School Trust, which funds the school, owns controlling interest in The Hershey Company and owns the Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company (HERCO) which oversees many of the area hotels along with a theme park called Hersheypark. With over six billion dollars in assets, the Milton Hershey School is one of the wealthiest schools in the world. The school is overseen by a Board of Managers.

The school currently serves 1,818 students, and plans to grow to 2,100 students by 2013.^{[citation needed]} A member of CORE: Coalition for Residential Education, it is the largest residential education program in the US.

Milton Snavely Hershey (September 13, 1857 – October 13, 1945) was an American confectioner, philanthropist, and founder of The Hershey Chocolate Company and the "company town" of Hershey, Pennsylvania.

He was honored by the United States Postal Service with a 32¢ Great Americans series (1980–2000) postage stamp.

Milton Hershey was born on September 13, 1857, to Veronica "Fanny" Snavely and Henry Hershey. The Snavely family were a well to-do Mennonite family. The nomadic Henry Hershey never stayed anywhere very long, and was prone to leaving his wife and child for long periods. Because of this, Hershey had a very limited education with no schooling after 4th grade. When he was in his late teens and 20s, Milton would travel with his father on his sales trips. After one lengthy visit to Chicago, Milton grew tired of Chicago and returned to Pennsylvania. Milton returning was a great joy for "Aunt Mattie" (Martha Snavely, Fanny's sister) who loved Milton as if he were her own son. Milton's return was short-lived though. He soon left for New York.