{"id":156528,"date":"2022-03-15T14:03:56","date_gmt":"2022-03-16T00:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=156528"},"modified":"2022-03-15T14:03:56","modified_gmt":"2022-03-16T00:03:56","slug":"hawaii-promise-scholarship-provides-free-tuition-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/03\/15\/hawaii-promise-scholarship-provides-free-tuition-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi Promise Scholarship provides free tuition, more for community college"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
\"People
Rayvan Kebekol (with red helmet) with carpentry students<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carpentry student Rayvan Kebekol<\/strong> is building towards his future at Honolulu Community College with the help of a Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise Scholarship<\/a>. Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise provides free in-state tuition for qualified University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College<\/a> students with financial needs. For eligible students, Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise provides the “last dollar” to cover direct education costs\u2014such as tuition, fees and books\u2014that are not met by other forms of financial aid.<\/p>\n

“The Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise Scholarship has been of great help to me over the years,” said Kebekol, who is on track to earn an associate\u2019s degree in May. “Because of the scholarship I was able to afford books and supplies for my classes, as well as a bus pass for transportation before COVID. It has allowed me to pay for my essentials for school and thus helped me progress towards my career.”<\/p>\n

\"Man
Rayvan Kebekol with a carpentry framing project<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kebekol was one of 1,800 students from seven UH<\/abbr> Community Colleges statewide who benefitted from almost $3 million in Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise scholarships disbursed for the 2020–21 academic year. The average award was $1,629, as detailed in a report to the 2022 Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Legislature<\/a> (PDF<\/abbr><\/span>).<\/p>\n

More than half (59%) of the Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise scholarships were awarded to students who identified as underrepresented, including Native Hawaiians, Filipinos, Pacific Islanders, American Indian or Alaskan Native, African American or Black, and Hispanic. These underrepresented groups comprised 52% of overall UH<\/abbr> Community College enrollment in 2020–21.<\/p>\n

Less debt, more progress toward degrees<\/h2>\n

The Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Promise Scholarship had a measurable impact on the lives of hundreds of recipients.<\/p>\n