UH scholarship offer to Lahainaluna High seniors extended to two or four years

Lahainaluna High School Class of 2024 students (Photo by: Hawaiʻi State Department of Education)

UH President David Lassner and Lahainaluna H.S. Class of 2024 students. Photo by: Hawaiʻi State DOE

Two-year and four-year scholarships to the University of Hawaiʻi are now available to Lahainaluna High School (LHS) seniors, thanks to a generous philanthropist. UH President David Lassner told the LHS seniors at a September 18 class assembly that UH would provide a full scholarship for one year to any of the 10 UH campuses. Those scholarships, covering tuition, fees and supplies, would be for the 2024–25 academic year, and Lassner promised that UH would work to extend the scholarship beyond 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. Lassner provided the update at the October 19 Board of Regents (BOR) meeting.

“We are continuing to work to ensure we assist any of our current students who were impacted by the devastation on Maui. 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,” Lassner said. “This gift will be life changing for these students at a particularly precarious time in their lives.”

Principal Richard Carosso notified the LHS seniors about the scholarship extension the morning of October 19. Since many LHS students moved or made alternate educational plans immediately after the Maui wildfires, the scholarship offer is available to every student who was enrolled as a senior at LHS on August 7, 2023, regardless of where they are registered for this academic year.

The university is working closely with the Hawaiʻi State Department of Education and LHS to make accessing the scholarships as easy as possible for students and their families. UH is also exploring ways to support future Maui graduates impacted by the fires with their higher education goals.