Hawaii Scholarships & Grants (2027–2028): UH Manoa Merit, Regents Scholarship & Hawaii Promise Deadlines

How Hawaii State Aid Actually Works

Hawaii has no separate state scholarship agency and no separate state application. Every dollar the state puts toward a student’s college bill runs through the University of Hawaiʻi System, which means the front doors are the UH admission application and the FAFSA, plus one optional scholarship form. If you are looking for a Hawaii equivalent of Tennessee’s TSAC portal or Arkansas’s SAMS, stop looking. It does not exist, and that is the first thing families get wrong.

What changed in 2025 and 2026, and why old advice is wrong now

Hawaii did not pass one sweeping reform act. It passed several smaller changes, and a handout more than a year old is likely wrong on at least four of these:

• Hawaiʻi Promise is no longer last-dollar. Act 235 of 2026 (HB 2338, signed July 13, 2026, effective July 1, 2026) rewrote the program to pay 95 percent of a student’s unmet direct cost and to stop subtracting Pell and other grants first. The practical effect: a Pell-eligible community college student can now keep Pell for rent and food instead of watching it cancel the Promise award. UH’s own pages still describe the old last-dollar version, so expect confusion at the counter.
• Mānoa’s automatic merit ladder changed for Fall 2026. The old two-tier version ($3,000 at a 3.0 to 3.59, $4,000 at a 3.6) is gone. The new ladder starts at a 3.20 and pays $2,500, $3,000, or $4,000. The renewal GPA jumped from 2.00 to 3.20. Any handout quoting “$3,000 at a 3.0” is describing a scholarship that no longer exists for this class.
• Direct2UH launched in October 2025. Public school seniors are now admitted to nine UH campuses on GPA alone, no application. Mānoa was expected to join for the Class of 2027; as of this writing it has not been added to the Direct2UH campus list, so Mānoa still requires the regular application.
• The Regents process at Mānoa changed in 2024. No more letters of recommendation, no more on-campus housing requirement, and the supplement is now an activities list plus one short-answer response. The Regents and Provost were folded into Mānoa’s New Warrior Scholarships process with a January 5 admission deadline.
• The old page you may have seen. Older guides, including the previous version of this one, listed the Presidential Scholarship as a freshman award with ACT cutoffs and sent families to the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation to apply for the Regents. Neither is true. The Presidential is a junior-year award for students already in college with a 3.7, and the Regents is applied for through UH, not HCF.

• Merit and need are separate tracks here, and both pay. The Mānoa ladder and the Regents ignore income. Hawaiʻi Promise, B Plus, and the Opportunity Grant ignore test scores. A student with a 3.3 and a low Student Aid Index (SAI, the number the FAFSA produces to measure what a family can pay) can collect from both tracks at once.
• Almost all of it is tuition money. The Regents stipend is the main exception. Housing at Mānoa is largely on the family, which is why the two-year and commuter math on this page matters more in Hawaii than in most states.
• Nothing requires a test score. UH Mānoa is test-optional for admission and uses GPA alone for the merit ladder. No Hawaii program on this page has an ACT or SAT minimum.
• There is no “reapply each year” for the Mānoa ladder. It renews on GPA and credits. But the FAFSA has to be filed every year, and the Common Scholarship Application is a new form every year.

The Mānoa Merit Ladder and the Need-Based Supplements

What the Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship pays (Fall 2026 class and later)

Against 2026–27 resident tuition of $11,760 a year at Mānoa, the top tier covers about a third of tuition before any need-based aid. Nonresidents from WUE states get $2,000 at a 3.50; other U.S. nonresidents get $4,000 at a 3.70. The award is applied to tuition and renews for eight consecutive semesters on the rule in the next section.

The need-based supplements nobody mentions

Three awards stack on top of the ladder for families with need, and all three are triggered by the FAFSA alone. There is no separate application for any of them, which is exactly why families never hear about them.

The 3.20 Renewal Rule (Hawaii’s Most Expensive Fine Print)

Most families who lose the Mānoa merit award will lose it in the second year, for a reason that was not true a year ago.

A 3.20 in college is a harder number than a 3.20 in high school. First-year students who carry a B average with one C in a lab science are sitting at a 3.1. Mānoa says students who fall short “should contact the Office of Admissions for assistance,” which means there is a conversation to be had, but there is no published appeal process and no published second chance. Treat the 3.20 as a hard floor.

Major Hawaii Programs

Even if you are confident you will not qualify for need-based aid, read the merit programs. The Mānoa ladder, the Regents, the Provost, and the Chancellor’s Scholarships at Hilo and West Oʻahu have no income cap at all.

Direct2UH and the Promise Math (Hawaii’s Invisible Second Door)

Here is a sequence that Hawaii built on purpose in 2025 and 2026, and almost no family runs it end to end.

1. Direct2UH admits you without an application. Every Hawaii public school senior is admitted to all seven UH community colleges. A 2.7 GPA or higher also admits you to UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu, subject to transcript verification. Enter a name, HIDOE ID, GPA, and birth date at direct2uh, then file the free Campus Choice Form. No fee, no essay, no test.
2. File the FAFSA by February 1. That alone triggers Hawaiʻi Promise at a community college. Under Act 235, Promise now pays 95 percent of unmet direct cost without subtracting Pell first, so a Pell-eligible commuter can have tuition, fees, and books handled and keep Pell for rent, food, and gas.
3. Add HINET if the family receives SNAP. Another roughly $2,675 a semester for living costs, and classes count toward the SNAP work rule.
4. Transfer with a 3.7 and apply for the Presidential. Rising juniors at Mānoa, Hilo, or West Oʻahu with a 3.7 college GPA can win the same tuition-plus-$5,600-stipend package the Regents pays, for the last two years. A student who never had the high school numbers for the Regents can still finish on it.

Hawaii State Aid Deadlines

Hawaii’s deadlines run earlier than most states, and the biggest money closes first. Dates below are for the Class of 2027 and the 2027–28 aid year (the year the money is spent, not the year the forms are filed).

The dates inside the year, once the award is running

These are the ones that catch families after the scholarship is already won. Screenshot this.

Verify current dates on the UH System scholarship application page before relying on them. Each campus financial aid office sets its own FAFSA priority date, and some community colleges use March 1.

How Hawaii Aid Stacks

Hawaii does not write a stacking order into statute the way Arkansas does, but two rules in practice explain most of the confusing aid letters UH families receive.

The CRP move: do not stop at state aid. Open each campus’s scholarship page and see what the institution adds on top, then compare schools side by side in the CRP Scholarship Search Tool. Our guide to comparing aid offers walks through reading the letters side by side.

Common Ways Hawaii Aid Gets Lost

These are the patterns counselors see every year. None of them are “my kid isn’t smart enough.” They are process problems, and process problems are fixable.

Who Benefits Most (Reality Check)

Low-income families

The strongest position in the state, and the one most likely to be left on the table. Pell plus Hawaiʻi Promise now covers direct cost at a community college with Pell left over for living costs, and Pell plus B Plus plus the Opportunity Grant plus the Mānoa ladder can zero out resident tuition at Mānoa for a 3.2 student. The thing to guard is the FAFSA date and the 12 credits, not the eligibility.

Middle-income families

The Mānoa ladder pays regardless of income, and B Plus and HCF set need thresholds that reach well into middle-income Hawaii, where the cost of living inflates what “need” looks like on a FAFSA. Beyond that, affordability comes down to which campus: Hilo and West Oʻahu cost $4,100 a year less than Mānoa in tuition before any aid, and the Regents floor there is a 3.5.

High-achieving students

Students who test poorly

Hawaii is one of the best states in the country for you. No program on this page has a test score requirement. Mānoa is test-optional with a “do no harm” policy, the merit ladder runs on GPA alone, Direct2UH admits on GPA alone, and Hawaiʻi Promise and HINET have no academic gate beyond satisfactory progress. If the GPA is under 3.2, the community college path under Promise is a fully funded first two years with a Presidential Scholarship waiting at the transfer point for students who find their footing.

Adult and returning students

This one is for the parents reading. Hawaiʻi Promise has no age limit and takes part-time students at six credits. HINET was built for working adults on SNAP and counts coursework toward the work requirement. The Common Scholarship Application is open to continuing students every year, and the Presidential Scholarship goes to rising juniors regardless of age. Plenty of first-generation parents finish a credential alongside their student.

First-gen families

Same eligibility as everyone else, higher risk of losing it to a missed step. Hawaii aid is timing aid: the fall application, the January 5 date, the February 1 FAFSA, the 12 credits. If you feel behind, you are not. You need a calendar, not a miracle. Start with our First-Gen Parent Guide and the grade-level checklists.

Colleges That Stack Best With Hawaii Aid

Hawaiʻi Promise, B Plus, and the Regents are flat awards that pay the same at any eligible campus. So the real question is not where state aid goes furthest. It is which campus hands your student the most money on top of it, at the numbers they actually have. Hawaii’s four-year options are small in number: three UH campuses and three private colleges. Every figure marked automatic means no essay, no interview, no committee.

The clean automatic grid

• University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (Honolulu): the flagship, and the only Hawaii campus with a published automatic ladder. Residents: $2,500 at a 3.20, $3,000 at a 3.50, $4,000 at a 3.70, from the admission application, rolling while funds last, renewing at a 3.20. Above the ladder sit the competitive Provost ($10,000 a year, about 80 awards) and Regents (full tuition plus $5,600, 16 awards), both at a 3.7 with the January 5 and 15 deadlines. Need-based: the Opportunity Grant up to $5,000, Second Century up to $2,000, B Plus up to $2,000, all from the FAFSA by February 1. Departmental awards run through STAR, November 15 to February 15. Test-optional, superscores if submitted, and scores are not used for the ladder. Full detail on the guide page.

The lower bar for the biggest award

• University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo (Hilo): Regents at a 3.5 to 3.7, two awards, through the Common Scholarship Application by March 1. Chancellor’s Scholarship, full tuition for four years, weighs academics, leadership, service, and need. The Hawaiʻi Scholars Award pays $1,000 a year to admitted first-year students, automatic and first-come until funds run out, renewable four years. Resident tuition $7,632 a year. Direct2UH admits at a 2.7. Not yet in our database for a full guide page.
• University of Hawaiʻi West Oʻahu (Kapolei): Regents at a 3.5 cumulative GPA with “remarkable achievements in extracurricular activities,” two awards, through the Common Scholarship Application by March 1. Chancellor’s Scholarship, a four-year full tuition waiver for high-achieving Hawaii graduates who also serve as student ambassadors. Resident tuition $7,632 a year. No on-campus housing, which keeps the total cost low for Oʻahu families. Direct2UH admits at a 2.7. Not yet in our database for a full guide page.

A different model entirely

• The seven UH community colleges (Hawaiʻi, Honolulu, Kapiʻolani, Kauaʻi, Leeward, UH Maui College, Windward): no merit ladders to speak of, because the model is Hawaiʻi Promise plus HINET plus the Common Scholarship Application. Resident tuition $131 a credit, about $3,144 a year full-time. Every Hawaii public school graduate is admitted through Direct2UH. The transfer pathway to the Presidential Scholarship starts here.

Not yet in our database. We have verified award tiers for one Hawaii college so far, so we are not going to publish dollar figures for the others beyond what UH’s own system pages state. Publics we have not added: UH Hilo, UH West Oʻahu, and the seven community colleges. Privates we have not added: Chaminade University (Honolulu), Hawaiʻi Pacific University (Honolulu), and Brigham Young University Hawaii (Lāʻie). Hawaiʻi Promise does not apply at private colleges, and B Plus and the Regents are UH-only, so a family considering the privates is relying on the college’s own aid, Pell, and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation. We would rather leave them without numbers than publish a guess.

The two-year and transfer pathway

Here is the math most four-year-bound families never run. A Pell-eligible student at a UH community college under the new Hawaiʻi Promise can have direct cost handled and keep Pell, for two years, with no GPA requirement beyond satisfactory progress. Two years at Mānoa, by contrast, cost a 3.5 student roughly $26,000 in housing and meals that no Hawaii program pays for except the Regents stipend.

Then the ladder gets better on transfer. UH runs a single system, so credits move within it, and the Presidential Scholarship is reserved for rising juniors with a 3.7 college GPA at Mānoa, Hilo, or West Oʻahu. It pays the Regents package for the final four semesters. Mānoa also runs a two-year Transfer Merit Scholarship for incoming transfers, awarded from the admission application.

Three cautions. Hawaiʻi Promise stops at the community college; it does not follow the student to Mānoa. B Plus and the Mānoa merit ladder are for students entering directly from high school; a transfer student is looking at the Transfer Merit Scholarship and the Presidential instead. And transfer is where Hawaii students get lost: UH’s own figures show that of community college students who want a bachelor’s degree, only about a quarter make the move. Meet with the transfer advisor in the first semester, not the last.

Tip: confirm your Hawaii programs here, then open each campus’s scholarship page to see what the school adds. You can also compare schools side by side using the CRP Scholarship Search Tool, or look up your student’s numbers in the scholarships-by-GPA guide.

Smaller Hawaii Programs Worth Checking

These do not apply to everyone, but when one applies to your family it is usually significant.

Full list and current rules: UH System financial aid page and the HCF scholarship directory.

Hawaii State Aid FAQs

Does Hawaii have a state scholarship program like HOPE or Bright Futures?

Not under a single name. Hawaii funds its student aid through the University of Hawaiʻi System rather than a separate state agency, so there is no statewide portal and no single flagship award. The state-funded programs are the UH Regents and Presidential Scholarships, the State of Hawaiʻi B Plus Scholarship, Hawaiʻi Promise at the community colleges, the Second Century Scholarship, and campus merit awards such as the Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship. All of them are applied for through the UH admission application, the FAFSA, or the UH System Common Scholarship Application.

How much is the UH Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship and what GPA do you need?

For Hawaii residents starting in Fall 2026 or later, it pays $2,500 a year at a 3.20 to 3.49 cumulative high school GPA, $3,000 at a 3.50 to 3.69, and $4,000 at a 3.70 or higher, for eight consecutive semesters. There is no separate application; the Office of Admissions awards it from the admission file. Test scores are not used. Awards are made on a rolling basis as long as funds remain, so applying early in the fall matters.

Is the Hawaiʻi Promise scholarship still a last-dollar award?

No. Act 235 of 2026 (HB 2338), signed July 13, 2026 and effective July 1, 2026, changed Hawaiʻi Promise so that it covers 95 percent of a student’s unmet direct educational cost at a UH community college and no longer subtracts Pell and other grants first. Students must qualify for resident tuition, enroll in at least six credits in a degree or certificate program, file the FAFSA, and maintain satisfactory academic progress. There is no separate application. UH’s own web pages still describe the earlier last-dollar version, so ask the campus financial aid office whether an award was calculated under Act 235.

What are the requirements for the UH Regents Scholarship?

Hawaii residency and first-year status, plus a cumulative high school GPA that depends on the campus: UH Mānoa’s Office of Admissions considers applicants at a 3.7, while UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu consider a 3.5 to 3.7 with preference for the higher GPA. There is no ACT or SAT requirement. At Mānoa, students apply for admission by January 5 and submit an activities list and a 250 to 400 word community-impact response by January 15, and Regents Scholars must also join the Honors Program. The award is full-time tuition for eight semesters, a $5,600 yearly stipend, and a one-time travel grant, renewing at a 3.5 GPA with 12 credits a semester.

What is the deadline for UH Mānoa scholarships for fall 2027?

January 5, 2027 for the admission application if the student wants to be considered for the Regents or Provost Achievement Scholarship, with the New Warrior supplement due January 15. The Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship has no fixed deadline but is awarded on a rolling basis until funds run out. The FAFSA priority date at UH is February 1, the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation closes February 1, 2027 at 4 PM Hawaiʻi time, and the UH System Common Scholarship Application closes March 1, 2027 at 4 PM Hawaiʻi time.

Does UH Mānoa require an ACT or SAT score for scholarships, and does it accept superscores?

No score is required. UH Mānoa is test-optional for admission, the Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship is awarded on cumulative high school GPA alone, and the Regents and Provost are selected through a holistic review with no published score cutoff. If a student chooses to submit scores, Mānoa follows a “do no harm” policy and superscores, meaning the highest section results across test dates are combined. Mānoa notes that some direct-entry department programs may still ask for scores.

Can you lose the UH Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship?

Yes. Students who start at Mānoa in Fall 2026 or later must maintain a 3.20 cumulative undergraduate GPA and enroll in and earn at least 12 credits every semester. Students who started in Fall 2025 or earlier renew at a 2.00. Mānoa has not published an appeal or reinstatement process; its page says students who cannot meet the criteria should contact the Office of Admissions for assistance.

Can you get both the B Plus Scholarship and the Mānoa Academic Merit Scholarship, and does Hawaii state aid cover housing?

Yes to the first. B Plus is need-based and the Academic Merit Scholarship is merit-based, and they stack along with Pell, the Mānoa Opportunity Grant, and the Second Century Scholarship. The limit is that a student may accept only one merit award from Mānoa Admissions, so the Academic Merit award cannot be held alongside a Regents or Provost offer. On housing, mostly no: the Academic Merit, B Plus, and Chancellor’s awards are applied to tuition, and Hawaiʻi Promise covers direct cost only. The Regents and Presidential stipend of $5,600 a year is the main Hawaii award that reaches living costs, along with any gift aid that exceeds tuition and is refunded up to the Cost of Attendance.