Kamehameha Schools will no longer require tuition for preschool through Grade 12

Starting with the 2026-27 school year, Kamehameha preschools and K–12 campuses will no longer require tuition. The announcement was made in a message from the Board of Trustees and CEO of Kamehameha Schools.

Tuition for the 2025-26 school year was upwards of $2,800 (modified day) to more than $4,000 (full day) for preschool; K-5 education at Hawaiʻi, Kapālama and Maui was around $5,676; 6-12 education was nearly $7,000; and boarding school was upwards $12,000.

According to the school blog, KS subsidizes 92% of the cost of educating all of its students, with nearly 80% of the student body receiving additional aid based on financial need.

The Maui campus was reportedly established in 1996 and currently enrolls approximately 1,100 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to its website.  The high school includes grades 9-12 with a current enrollment of 469 students.

“With a deeper understanding of Ke Aliʻi Pauahi’s intent, E Ola!, and aliʻi–lāhui relationships, it has become clear that tuition no longer reflects either the reality or the values of a Kamehameha Schools education,” according to the letter. “Tuition suggests a transactional exchange. Yet, responsibility at Kamehameha has never flowed from payment. It flows from aloha, ancestral connection, and preparation.”

The full cost of education for every haumāna (student) will be borne by Ke Aliʻi Pauahi’s endowment, the letter notes, with the change in tuition pending Probate Court approval.

“This is not a change in Ke Ali‘i Pauahi’s generosity. Her trust has always carried the primary responsibility to provide the resources needed for a Kamehameha Schools education. This is a clarification of this special relationship,” according to the letter.

Kamehameha Schools currently faces a lawsuit from Virginia-based group “Students for Fair Admissions,” which believes that “racial and ethnic classifications and preferences in admissions are unfair, unnecessary and unconstitutional.”

Multiple groups have stood in solidarity with Kamehameha Schools — including the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees, the Democratic National Committee, and the ACLU of Hawaiʻi — reaffirming the political status and inherent sovereignty of the Native Hawaiian people.