University of Hawaiʻi enrollment surpasses 50K statewide for first time in 6 years

The fall 2024 semester marks an enrollment milestone for the 10-campus University of Hawaiʻi system.

Headcount surpassed 50,000 students for the first time since 2018, with 50,418 students enrolled this fall, a 3% increase from fall 2023.

Enrollment is also up at 8 of the university’s 10 campuses statewide, including all 7 of its community colleges — a feat that hasn’t happened since 2010.

First-time freshmen from Hawaiʻi high schools attending a University of Hawaiʻi 2- or 4-year campus increased by 10% this year, too, including a 9% increase at community colleges, despite a nationwide decrease of 5% in enrollment this fall of freshmen who just graduated from high school.

“This is not just good news for [University of Hawaiʻi], it’s good news for the entire state. The more people who go to college means a more skilled workforce, and that translates to higher wages and fewer residents receiving government assistance. The ripple effect cannot be understated,” said University of Hawaiʻi President David Lassner. “I am most excited about the increases in our first-time freshmen from Hawaiʻi, and the fact that we are bucking the national trend. The people of Hawaiʻi are truly seeing the value of their public higher education system.”

Leeward Community College in Pearl City, Oʻahu, saw the biggest increase in enrollment among community colleges, with a 7% spike.

Community college enrollments range from nearly 6,500 students at the Pearl City institution to 1,335 at Kauaʻi Community College in Līhuʻe, Kauaʻi.

Hawaiʻi Community College on the Big Island has a fall 2024 enrollment of 2,289 students, an increase of 1% compared with fall 2023.

The fall 2024 community college enrollments and increases are:

• Leeward Community College: 6,471 students (+7%)
• University of Hawaiʻi Maui College in Kahului, Maui: 2,792 students (+6%)
• Honolulu Community College: 3,342 (+4%)
• Kauaʻi Community College: 1,335 (+3%)
• Kapiʻolani Community College in Honolulu: 5,914 (+2%)
• Hawaiʻi Community College in Hilo and Pālamanui campus in Kona: 2,289 (+1%)
• Windward Community College in Kāneʻohe, Oʻahu: 2,765 (+1%)

Enrollment in the Early College program, through which high school students take college courses for dual credit — making them more likely to attend a post-secondary institution and earn a degree — reached an all time high at community colleges, up 10% from fall 2023, with 3,717 students enrolled.

Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander enrollment is also up 6% at University of Hawaiʻi community colleges, driving an average 5% hike throughout the 10-campus system with growth in nearly all ethnic groups, including:

• Tongan: 10%
• Micronesian and Marshallese: 9%
• Filipino: 5%
• Native Hawaiian and part Hawaiian: 4%
• Samoan: 3%

“We are so excited to see increases across our seven community colleges in overall enrollment and in these key areas,” said interim University of Hawaiʻi Vice President for Community Colleges Della Teraoka. “I commend our chancellors, their leadership and enrollment management teams for their great work along with our faculty and staff. We are going to keep looking for ways to improve so we can continue to meet the needs of the communities we serve.”

Among University of Hawaiʻi 4-year campuses, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa surpassed 20,000 students for the first time since 2013, with 20,028 students enrolled this fall — a 4% increase compared with 2023.

The university’s flagship campus also welcomed a record 3,123 first-time freshmen, the third consecutive year Mānoa reached 3,000 or more freshmen.

Despite an overall decrease of 4% in enrollment at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo on the Big Island, Chancellor Bonnie Irwin emphasized she is “thrilled to see a 25% surge in returning students — those who had paused their studies during the [COVID-19] pandemic and are now back to finish what they started.”

Irwin also noted gains in key areas including out-of-state Native Hawaiian, transfer, graduate and veteran students.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s fall 2024 enrollment stands at 2,668.

And although enrollment was down 2% at the University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu in Kapolei, Oʻahu, with 2,814 students attending this fall, the number of degree-seeking students and student semester hours taught increased.

The modest decrease of about 50 students mostly represents fewer Early College enrollments.