Growing up in Los Angeles, she spent her freshman year at the Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California. In 1996, the Hilton family left California. At 15, she attended Professional Children's School. Hilton's parents sent her to a series of boarding schools for emotionally troubled teens, including Cascade, CEDU, and Provo Canyon School. Her educational system experience was brief; she then attended an ultra-exclusive Dwight School before dropping out a few months later and earned her GED certificate afterward.