Bill would guarantee resident tuition for Hawaiʻi high‑school graduates who return to state; university explores HAR change as alternate route

Senate Bill 1489 would require the University of Hawaiʻi to grant resident tuition rates to individuals who graduated from Hawaiʻi high schools and later enroll in an undergraduate degree program under specified conditions. The bill is intended to reduce financial barriers for students who graduated in state but temporarily left and later returned.

Terry Ushijima of the Department of Education said the department supports the measure as a way to smooth the pathway to higher education for Hawaiʻi public‑school graduates. University witnesses said the matter is complicated by current residency rules. "The way the HAR is currently written... it does require 12 months of physical presence," said Associate Vice President Farrah Maureen Gomes. Gomes told senators that, absent a statutory change, the university might revise the Hawaii Administrative Rules to implement a similar outcome but that the HAR as written limits the university's administrative flexibility.

The committee recommended an SD1 with technical amendments and asked the university to attempt an administrative remedy before the bill proceeds, noting the bill has been raised in prior years and the university should pursue a HAR revision if the Legislature does not act.