University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents Presidential Scholarship

The UH Board of Regents established the Presidential Scholarship to support students with a record of outstanding academic achievement. The award amount is equivalent to full-tuition each year for 2 years + $4,000 per year stipend + $2,000 one-time travel grant. This scholarship is open to all Hawaiʻi residents.

Presidential Scholars are also Honors Program Scholars, which means that in addition to the generous scholarship award, students receive the benefits of being in the Honors Program. 

These benefits include, but are not limited to:

• Personalized academic advising
• Guided engagement in research opportunities
• Access to and enrollment in small-sized classes
• Mentoring by world-class faculty in your field of study

Criteria for Consideration

All admitted transfer, degree-seeking applicants or currently enrolled Mānoa rising Juniors who meet the eligibility criteria outlined below are encouraged to apply for consideration of these scholarships. In addition to your academic achievements, the scholarship selection committee will consider the ways that you make an impact on your community/communities.

• Residency Status: Hawai’i Residents
• Student type: Incoming transfer student or continuing Mānoa student
• Class Standing: Junior class standing by the end of the spring semester
• GPA: Students with a 3.7 college GPA or higher will be considered for this scholarship
• Number of awards offered: Historically, Mānoa has awarded 10 Presidential Scholarships each year. Note: If a student is offered more than one merit award by the Office of Admissions, they may only accept one of the awards.

Selection Process for Scholarship Award

The Office of Admissions selects and awards these merit scholarships based on a student’s admission application, a holistic academic record review, and the student’s demonstrated impact on their community/communities. When a student who is eligible for these higher-tier scholarships has been admitted, they will also receive instructions and information about how to submit additional required documents for scholarship consideration.

In addition to submitting the admission application, students must also submit 2 supplemental documents:

1. A list of activities/achievements that help us understand how you spend your time outside of the classroom. Provide as much information as you believe will help the admissions committee understand how you make an impact in your community/communities.
2. A short-answer essay response to the following prompt: Share with us the way(s) that you make an impact in your community/communities through your activit(ies)/commitment(s) and why that impact is important to you.

Some of the questions you may want to address in your response include: Why is that activity/commitment important to you? How will that experience shape your college career at Mānoa?

Responses should be between 250-400 words. Responses below or above this range are still acceptable, as long as you address the prompt.

Optional: You may also upload an updated transcript. We encourage you to submit updated grades if you have new academic information available since the time you originally applied for admission.