UH aid plan targets isle students

Public high school students could get partial scholarships with adequate grades

University of Hawaii President David McClain is proposing a "Centennial Scholars" program that would give a partial scholarship to any Hawaii high school student who graduates in the top 10 percent of their class and attends a UH campus.*

The program is aimed at recruiting more Hawaii students to stay in the state and attend a UH school or community college and would be incorporated into the university's celebration of its 100th anniversary next year.

McClain said he is reviewing the details of the proposal and will present it at next month's Board of Regents meeting on Kauai.

The idea is based on a suggestion by student regent Michael Dahilig, who learned about a similar scholarship program while visiting the University of Alaska.

It offers $11,000 over four years to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class, attend a University of Alaska campus and maintain their grades, McClain said.

Based on the number of public high school graduates in Hawaii last year, McClain estimated that about 1,300 students would be eligible for the scholarship.

The university is looking at how many of last year's top graduates attended a UH campus to estimate the cost of the program.

The amount of money offered and other details of the scholarship would be based on that estimate, he said.

UH may use a mixture of its own special fund money, state money and private donations raised during the UH Foundation's Centennial Campaign to fund the scholarship program, McClain said.

McClain unveiled the proposal during a workshop on the university budget at the Board of Regents meeting on Friday.

The university is in the midst of a long budget process before administrators present a budget request to the regents and the governor for approval.

The draft UH budget, which McClain is now reviewing, calls for $37.4 million in new state spending next fiscal year and $57 million in the fiscal year ending in June 2009.

The current UH general fund budget is about $383 million.

McClain said the university will be pushing what he calls "access with success" initiatives to the governor and the Legislature, which include the scholarship program and requests for more counselors to help students get financial aid, stay in school and graduate on time. The idea is to increase opportunities for people to take advantage of higher education and to graduate, McClain said.

Other priorities for new students focus on meeting the state's needs for new workers and diversifying the state's economy.