Getting into the University of Hawai‘i has just gotten easier for high school seniors across the Islands.
Direct2UH, a new initiative from UH and the state Department of Education, launched this week. According to the university, it provides direct admission to nine of the UH system campuses based on a student's grade point average, securing them a spot without completing a traditional application.
Students with a 2.7 GPA or higher will automatically qualify for admission to UH Hilo, UH West Oʻahu and the seven UH Community Colleges — Hawaiʻi on Hawai‘i Island, Honolulu, Kapiʻolani, Kauaʻi, Leeward, UH Maui College and Windward. Admission to UH-Hilo and UH-West O‘ahu, which are four-year universities, however, are subject to verification of official transcripts and other eligibility requirements.
Meanwhile students with a 2.69 GPA or below qualify for admission to the community colleges.
Interested? Students can visit direct2uh.com and enter their names, DOE ID, GPA and date of birth. Then, once confirmed, they can submit a campus choice form online for free to secure their spot.
UH Mānoa is expected to join the program in 2026, UH says. (You can still apply to the flagship campus here, though).
UH President Wendy Hensel said in an announcement this week that Direct2UH is about "opening doors to lifelong success, enabling our students to pursue their dreams, contribute to our communities and build an even stronger Hawaiʻi, right here at home.”
Hawai‘i Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in the same announcement that the initiative "affirms the potential and readiness of every high school graduate."
As part of the launch, every public high school senior in the state will receive an official acceptance letter to UH, signed by both Hensel and Hayashi.
According to UH, about half of Hawai‘i's public high schoolers pursue higher education after graduating.
"The goal is to simplify and streamline the entire admissions process, making it easier for students to take the next step toward college," a UH spokesperson told Aloha State Daily in an email. "By connecting with students earlier, simplifying every step and encouraging more high school seniors to see themselves as college-ready and confident in pursuing higher education."
Over time, they say the university expects these changes will "increase enrollment and strengthen the pathway from high school to college."
According to the spokesperson, UH and the DOE have been collaborating on ways to "better align the transition from high school to college" for more than a decade.
The 2024 Hawai‘i Data Book offers up some stats on the residence and migration of first-year college students in the fall of 2020 and 2022.
In the fall of 2020, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, 3,799 first-year students in Hawai‘i left the state while 2,281 students came into Hawai‘i, a net loss of 1,518.
Two years later, in the fall of 2022, 4,236 first-year college students left the Islands and 2,872 came into the state, a net migration loss of 1,364.
Meanwhile, enrollment across the 10 UH campuses has hit its highest mark since 2017. Earlier this month, the university said the student population reached 51,411 in fall 2025, a 2% increase from last fall.
These gains were driven by "increases in first-time freshmen across the UH System (up 2.1%), record participation in programs allowing high school students to earn college and/or high school credit (up 6.9% from fall 2024), and rising undergraduate home-based enrollment at UH 4-year campuses," an Oct. 5 announcement from UH noted.
The enrollment breakdown by school:
— UH Mānoa: 20,404 (+1.9%)
— UH Hilo: 2,649 (−0.7%)
— UH West Oʻahu: 2,897 (+2.9%)
— UH Community Colleges: 25,461 (+2.2%)
— Hawaiʻi CC: 2,489 (+8.7%)
— Honolulu CC: 3,628 (+8.6%)
— Kapiʻolani CC: 5,704 (−3.6%)
— Kauaʻi CC: 1,324 (−0.8%)
— Leeward CC: 6,210 (−4.0%)
— UH Maui College: 2,997 (+7.3%)
— Windward CC: 3,109 (+12.4%)
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Stephanie Salmons can be reached at stephanie@alohastatedaily.com.
