College preparation requires improvement in Hawaii schools

THE ISSUE A national study reports that Hawaii is falling behind in getting students to enroll in college by age 19.

HAWAII receives fair marks in a new study on higher education, which also includes college preparation in the public school system. The study shows a need to improve that preparation and increase the number of young people seeking college degrees, despite rises in tuition.

The biennial study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education shows Hawaii lagging behind other states in getting young people to enroll in college after graduating from high school.

During the past decade, it says, "Hawaii has experienced the steepest decline in the nation on this measure, primarily because the percentage of 9th graders graduating from high school in four years and the percentage of graduates going on to college have both dropped."

The new study does not specify how the graduation rate has dropped, but the state Department of Education has disputed the center's estimates in the past. The center reported Hawaii's 2002 graduation rate was 65 percent, based on the number of high school graduates divided by the number of ninth-graders four years earlier. The DOE considers the state's graduation rate to be 80 percent, based on tracking students over time.

Other assessments in the study are indisputable. Hawaii students entering high school perform very poorly in national tests in math, reading, science and writing, and those poor scores continue through 12th grade. Still, college enrollment by 18- to 24-year-olds in Hawaii has risen slightly, from 33 percent to 36 percent during the past four years.

Hawaii's worst grade among the five categories was a D for affordability, but that turns out to be a bright spot; only six states scored better. That could change in future ratings, as a 1.5 percent drop in enrollment is expected this fall at the University of Hawaii-Manoa because of a tuition increase, and tuition hikes are scheduled during the next six years.