The University of Hawaiʻi has been awarded more than $6 million in grants by the U.S. Department of Education’s Native Hawaiian Education Program to support its goal of becoming a model indigenous serving institution.

The purpose of the Alaska Native-Serving and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions Education Competitive Grants Program is to provide grants to eligible institutions of higher education to enable them to improve and expand their capacity to serve Alaska Natives and Native Hawaiians. UH awardees include:

Ke ʻAla Hele o Ka Naʻauao: The Pathway of Knowledge

$395,094

Windward Community College will implement a two-year pathway to the associate of arts in Hawaiian studies which focuses on ʻahupuaʻa (Hawaiian land management) studies to increase the number of majors, student success, full-time status students and graduation.

Huliamahi: Joining Together to Support Guided Pathways to Success

$367,991

Kapiʻolani CC and the UH Mānoa will develop a comprehensive educational pipeline and improve and expand applied multi-disciplinary research and networking opportunities for Native Hawaiian students, faculty and staff.

Mānai-a-Māui: Transforming Institutions with an Indigenous Framework

$450,000

Hawaiʻi CC , UH Hilo and UH Maui College will collaborate on a joint effort to transform the institutions by incorporating Native Hawaiian culture, values and traditions to impact student success.

Ulu Kini

$396,096

Hawaiʻi CC seeks to expand Kauhale distance education activity, incorporate the Haʻakūmalae Indigenizing Curriculum Model and improve the campus’ distance education infrastructure.

Ke Ala ʻAnuʻu: The Path of Steps

$434,664

Leeward CC and UH West Oʻahu will endeavor to increase Native Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian enrollment and graduation rates in STEM -related fields, fall-to-fall retention rates and the number of students matriculating and graduating with a UH West Oʻahu STEM -related degree.

Waʻa Kaulua: The Foundational Journey to Success

$351,359

Leeward CC ’s pre-existing Going to Finish On Time program will be expanded by infusing the peer mentor training program, counseling sessions and enrichment activities with new curricula and providing part-time students and second-year students with tailored support.

Kelekaʻa Hoʻnaʻauao

$449,660

Kauaʻi CC and UH West Oʻahu aim to significantly increase the number of Native Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian students persisting to degree attainment through facility upgrades, access to distance education bachelor degrees and enhanced student support.

Hoʻopūliko Kumu Hou: To Sprout New Teachers

$400,000

UH West Oʻahu will partner with stakeholders in the region to significantly increase the number of Native Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian teachers earning their bachelor’s degree and entering the region’s secondary classrooms in the next five years.

Kahua Paepae Ola Project

$360,157

Kauaʻi CC will provide integrated, holistic student support services, modernize learning and teaching facilities, increase tutoring and mentoring support, expand student support to improve transitions and retention rates and create a Native Hawaiian kauhale (meeting place).

Kumuola: Caregivers of Life

$449,638

Windward CC will develop a culturally relevant human development and family studies ( HDFS ) curricular pathway to the baccalaureate institution and a comprehensive support program to facilitate student success, retention, transfer, graduation and career exploration in the HDFS pathway.

Kūkalahale: Building an Indigenous-Serving Institution through Professional Development

$450,000

Honolulu CC and Kapiʻolani CC will build the capacity of their faculty, staff and administration to develop and sustain culturally appropriate and culturally relevant strategies that kīpaipai (encourage) current and future Native Hawaiian students.

Huliamahi: Joining Together to Support Guided Pathways to Success

$343,637

Kapiʻolani CC ’s instructional faculty, counselors and Native Hawaiian student support personnel will develop collaborative academic and student support strategies to improve Native Hawaiian re-enrollment, degree completion and transfer.

Project Nāʻū

$400,000

Hawaiʻi CC seeks to increase Native Hawaiian student enrollment by offering opportunities for place-based, service-learning activities and increasing engagement and retention and graduation rates through campus-wide activities and improving learning environments.

He Pōʻai Loliō: Innovative Learning Environments and Workforce Development

$400,000

UH West Oʻahu, with funding assistance from the Department of Education, proposes to renovate two spaces to create classrooms and specialized learning spaces that support student success and advances inclusive and collaborative learning.