Hawaiʻi Community Foundation Offers $4.5M in Scholarships

The Hawai‘i Community Foundation invites applications for post-secondary student scholarships, making available in excess of $4.5 million through more than 200 scholarship funds to benefit Hawai‘i residents.

A single application, which must be submitted online, will match high school seniors and college students to all the scholarships that they are eligible to receive.

To make the application process easy, HCF offers a portal through its website at  that allows applicants to search available scholarships, fill out and save their application, and track their progress.

“There is a greater need than ever for financial assistance to enable higher education in Hawai‘i, empowering students to achieve their dreams,” said Kelvin Taketa, president & CEO of Hawai‘i Community Foundation in a statement. “Owing to the generosity of our donor community, we are able to offer scholarships to make it possible for thousands of students to take the next step toward reaching their full potential.”

Each scholarship has specific eligibility criteria defined by the donor when the fund is established, and may require additional questions or documentation. General criteria that apply to most scholarships includes the following:

• Residence in the state of Hawai‘i
• Demonstrated financial need
• Attendance at an accredited two- or four-year college or university within the United States as either an undergraduate or graduate student
• Status as full-time student as determined by the institution (typically 12 credits undergraduate; 9 credits graduate)
• Minimum 2.7 GPA (unless otherwise stated)

Applications submitted by the early deadline of January 29, 2016 will be reviewed to ensure that all required supplementary materials are valid and have been properly submitted. The final deadline for applications is Feb. 18, 2016 at 4 p.m. HST.