HILO — More students will get assistance with education costs after legislation expanding the Hawaii Promise scholarship program was signed by Gov. David Ige earlier this month.
Ige signed House Bill 2501, which codified and appropriated $700,000 for the Hawaii Promise program, an initiative that provides scholarships to help qualified students — enrolled at any community college campus in the University of Hawaii system — cover unmet education costs like tuition, books, supplies, fees and local transportation.
UH president David Lassner said the university system had received a partial appropriation of $1.8 million for the Hawaii Promise program in the budget bill last year, but the program was not established in law.
Approval of this bill means the program now appears in Hawaii statutes, along with an additional appropriation of $700,000.
“We’re delighted to have it established in statute,” Lassner said by phone Wednesday. “We’re really pleased with the support this program has received from both the Legislature and the governor.”
The legislation is the first step in eliminating financial need as a barrier to enrollment to public higher education in Hawaii, he said.
Hawaii Promise targets tuition, fees and other direct costs, but Lassner said it doesn’t address “one of the major costs of going to college today, which is room and board. That’s something we would like to look at in the future.”
But addressing tuition and fees, he said, is a “wonderful, wonderful first step.”
According to UH, approximately 1,500 students benefited from the Hawaii Promise scholarships, with an average grant of $1,200, after the program was implemented last fall, and it’s estimated the new funding will support an addition 500 to 600 students for the 2018-19 school year.
HCC spokesman Thatcher Moats said 198 Big Island students have received the scholarship so far — 170 for the 2017-18 academic year and 28 so far for the 2018-19 year. Recipients have received an average of $1,109.
There is no separate application for the Hawaii Promise scholarship. Prospective students are encouraged to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and enroll at a UH community college at least half time to be considered for all types of financial aid, including Hawaii Promise.
Info: Contact the Hawaii Community College Financial Aid Office by email at hawccfao@hawaii.edu, by phone at 934-2712, or online at hawaii.hawaii.edu/financialaid/hawaiipromise.