Community college could be free for Hawaii residents if measures being considered by the Legislature become law.
House Bill 78 and its companion, Senate Bill 172, would expand the Hawaii Promise program, a “last dollar” scholarship providing free in-state tuition for University of Hawaii community college students.
“Last dollar” means the program considers any other federal scholarships a student is eligible for, like Pell grants, prior to awarding funding.
“This bill would make community college free for all Hawaii residents,” said Big Island Rep. Jeanne Kapela, a Democrat who introduced the bill. “For me, this measure is a matter of basic educational equity. We need to make sure that all of Hawaii’s children have access to the same opportunities to achieve financial security and learn the skills necessary to participate in the 21st century workplace.”
The bill would expand the program by increasing its funding along with eliminating the “greatest need basis,” qualifier, opening the scholarship up to nearly all state residents at the seven UH community college campuses.
“In academic year 2021-2022, Hawaii Promise recipients earned more credits, received better grades, and had higher persistence rates than their peers,” said Debora Halbert, vice president for academic strategy at the University of Hawaii in public testimony. “As the data from the current Hawaii Promise program shows, there are benefits to making the direct cost of education affordable for all eligible Hawaii residents.”
To qualify, students would need to be state residents, enroll in six or more credits per semester, maintain “satisfactory academic progress” set by individual schools, and submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, for each academic year and accept any offered scholarship funding.
“If we truly want to keep local families in Hawaii, and enable them to prosper, we need to make educational and economic opportunity available and accessible,” said Oahu Rep. Amy Perruso, a Democrat who co-introduced the bill. “I have personally seen so many students who were absolutely unable to pursue any postsecondary education simply because the financial burden and cost was too high for working families to bear.”
For full-time students, tuition at Hawaii Community College costs roughly $3,204 per year.
The Legislature appropriated a one-time $1.8 million for the creation of the Hawaii Promise program back in 2017, along with annual increases of $700,000. During the 2020-21 school year, more than 1,800 students at UH community colleges benefitted from the scholarships.
“Every year, we start with a meager $700K, and so we have to create a formula on how to distribute that,” said HCC Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas, who told the Tribune-Herald she supports the bill. “We need to have this in place the right way, where our residents really feel like they have the opportunity, even just in their first two years in higher education.”
The new bills would appropriate $20 million out of the general fund for both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years.
“Making community college free for our state’s residents would likely cost less than $20 million at a time when our state budget is in a record $1.9 billion surplus,” said Hawaii County Council member Jenn Kagiwada in written testimony supporting the bill.
Community college enrollment has declined annually in Hawaii County since 2016, dropping from 22% to 15% in 2021.
“National data shows that making community college free would increase enrollment by 26%, and increase degree completion by 20%,” said Corey Rosenlee, a teacher at Campbell High School, in written testimony. “Even if you were to include a 26% increase for enrollment, it would only cost the state approximately $14.25 million dollars (to cover the expanded program).”
Recently, Windward Community College started offering free enrollment to local high school graduates and in 2022, freshman enrollment increased by 20%.
Nine states already offer free community college for most or all students.
HB 78 was passed by the House Committee on Higher Education and Technology, with only Rep. Diamond Garcia, an Oahu Republican, voting no.
Garcia did not respond to multiple requests for comment prior to this story’s publication.
“I’m very optimistic that this bill will move forward,” Kapela said. “Even the University of Hawaii has supported it at prior hearings.”
The bill will move on to the Finance Committee, and the Senate bill will be reviewed by the Higher Education and Ways and Means committees.
“I hope we see increases in the enrollment numbers of local students,” said Perruso, who added the bill is her top priority this session. “We’ve got to give our children hope that they can build positive futures for themselves, and this program does that.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.