A pledge from an anonymous donor has made it possible for the University of Hawaii to expand its scholarship offers for Lahainaluna High School seniors, now making full two-year and four-year scholarships available, state officials have confirmed.
Every one of the approximately 190 seniors who was enrolled at Lahainaluna High as of Aug. 7 is eligible.
Since many Lahainaluna students have moved and/or made alternate educational plans in the aftermath of the Maui wildfires, the scholarship offer is available to every student who was enrolled as a senior at Lahainaluna High Aug. 7, regardless of where they are registered now.
UH President David Lassner had initially told the Lahainaluna seniors last month that UH would offer a full scholarship for the 2024-2025 school year, covering tuition, fees, books and supplies for full-time and part-time students, to any of the 10 UH campuses.
Lassner had promised that the university would work to extend the scholarship beyond the one year.
“Now a donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has agreed to fund the scholarship extensions to two years for any UH community college or four years for any UH university,” a university statement said.
A spokesperson declined to give any information about the donor, and said the amount the donor will give to the UH Foundation for the scholarships has not been finalized yet, since it will depend on how many students accept the UH scholarships, and which campuses and degrees they choose.
The value of such scholarship could come out to as much as $13,536 per year, based on UH’s “cost of attendance” calculations on its website.
Resident tuition next school year for undergraduates at UH Manoa will remain at $11,304 for two semesters.
Fees are estimated at $882, and books and supplies, $1,350.
“We are continuing to work to ensure we assist any of our current students who were impacted by the devastation on Maui,” Lassner said in the statement. “But it is important that we all support this special group of students who began high school during COVID and now end with the wildfires.
“This gift will be life-changing for these students at a particularly precarious time in their lives,” he said.
The university is working closely with the state Department of Education and Lahainaluna High “to make accessing the scholarships as easy as possible for students and their families,” the statement said.
“UH is also exploring ways to support future Maui graduates impacted by the fires with their higher education goals,” it said.
