The students say they were recruited in their homelands around the world, including in China, Turkey, Ukraine, Moldova, Mongolia, Romania, Ghana, and Thailand, and that they paid $3,000 to $6,000 apiece to participate in what they were told would be a cultural exchange program, "as well as to work for three months."

After automatic weekly deductions for above above-market rent and other expenses, they net between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work. They are forced to live in company housing, for which they are charged $395/month each, at least twice the market rates paid by Americans in the same housing complexes. The Hershey student guestworkers' economic reality leaves them little to no chance even to make back the $3,000-6,000 they paid to come.