Hawai‘i Ranked 13 for Best Community College Systems

Hawaiʻi was ranked among the top 20 in Best Community College systems, according to a new report published today by the personal-finance website WalletHub.

The report comes amid back-to-school season, with supporting data revealing that a year of community college is nearly three times less expensive than a year at a public four-year college.

To determine where students can receive the best education at the cheapest rates, WalletHub compared 710 community colleges across 19 key indicators of cost and quality. The data set ranges from the cost of in-state tuition and fees to student-faculty ratio to graduation rate.

While Hawaiʻi was not included in the report’s 2019’s Best & Worst Community Colleges, it did appear on its state-by-state ranking of the Best Community-College Systems where it came in at number 13.

In a look at rankings by state, Hawaiʻi had six entries out of the 710 community colleges included in the study. The University of Hawaiʻi Maui College was not included in the rankings list.

Of the community colleges in Hawaiʻi that were included in the study, Kauaʻi Community College had the best overall ranking at 21; followed by Kapiʻolani Community College at 120; Honolulu Community College at 205; Windward Community College at 247; Hawaiʻi Community College at 336; and Leeward Community College at 361.