COP Program Helps With College Admission

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa offers a program to help high school graduates gain admission if they didn’t meet all the requirements—academic, financial or social support—the first time around.

UH’s College Opportunities Program (COP) is a free, six-week intensive summer course that gives students a second chance to gain the skills necessary to enroll at UH Mānoa, according to a UH press release.

Participants are required to live on the UH Mānoa campus and enroll in classes focused on upgrading academic and social skills. COP is an introduction to college life and its expectations and provides counseling and support to acclimate the students, the release continued. Those who successfully complete the COP program are admitted to UH Mānoa for the fall semester.

COP was established in 1970 as a federally-funded project aimed at recruiting residents from Waiʻanae, Nānākuli, Kālihi and Pālama to pursue postsecondary education. In 1973, the Hawaiʻi State Legislature opened the COP program to residents throughout the state.

The program is celebrating its 50th year of helping students, with about 3,800 successfully entering UH Mānoa in that time, the release said. Approximately 95% of students pass the COP summer course and are admitted to UH Mānoa. The entire 2019 COP summer class of 61 students successfully completed the program and will enter UH Mānoa in the fall.

In commemoration of COP’s 50 years, Central Pacific Bank Foundation committed $50,000 to provide scholarships for students in the program.

More information about COP at UH Mānoa can be found at http://www.hawaii.edu/cop/.