Catherwood LibraryILR School

Foreign students who paid to have a summer work experience in the United States, and were given jobs at a Hershey plant in Pennsylvania have brought up concerns about oversight of the program. The students walked out of the plant, after working long shifts with poor working conditions and having to pay for housing and transportation. When students complained to the contractor, they were told they could be sent home. The work program at Hershey is part of a State Department Program that puts 130,000 foreign students in jobs around the country. Critics are questioning whether the State Department can adequately monitor the program. Some of the students at the Hershey plant say that no one was responsive to their complaints until they walked out. The State Department has opened an investigation into the plant where the students worked.