Kipona Scholarship ends for new applicants – Honolulu Star-Advertiser
Friday, October 31, 2025 76° Today’s Paper
By Victoria Budiono
Today • Updated 11:58 p.m.
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARADVERTISER.COM / 2011
The long-running Kipona Scholarship was established to provide educational support to Native Hawaiian students attending Kamehameha Schools’ 75 partner schools. The Kapalama campus in Kalihi overlooks Honolulu.
Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading.
From as low as $12.95 /mo.
Kamehameha Schools has ended new applications for its Kipona Scholarship, a long-running program that provided need-based financial aid to Native Hawaiian students attending private schools across Hawaii other than Kamehameha Schools.
Current Kipona Scholarship recipients can continue to reapply annually through the end of their eligibility period. The program is limited to renewing recipients — students who received a Kipona award in the 2025–2026 school year and continue to meet program requirements. The renewal application window for the 2026–2027 school year is due on Dec. 1.
The Kipona Scholarship is no longer open to new applicants, and no other K–12 scholarship programs are offered through Kamehameha Schools or the Pauahi Foundation.
The program officially sunset in August, ending new awards after the 2025–2026 school year. Current recipients will continue to receive financial support as long as they meet annual program requirements. For instance, a student awarded a Kipona in ninth grade who later transfers to a nonparticipating school would no longer be eligible to continue receiving the scholarship.
The Kipona Scholarship was established to extend Kamehameha Schools’ educational support beyond its three campuses. For the 2025–2026 school year, the program offered need-based tuition assistance to Native Hawaiian students attending 75 partner schools statewide, with awards averaging between $5,000 and $7,000
annually.
A Kamehameha Schools Facts &Statistics report from the mid-2010s shows the program awarded about $3.3 million in Kipona Scholarships to 549 students, reflecting its substantial reach even in earlier years. Award amounts varied over time; for example, during the 2020–2021 academic year, maximum awards were set at $7,000 for grades K–5 and $9,000 for grades 6–12, though actual assistance depended on family need and tuition costs.
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!
The 2017 expansion added new entry points for kindergarten and key transition grades — including 4, 6, 7 and 9 — aligning with Kamehameha Schools’ campus admissions. By that year, Kipona was serving more than 900 students and distributing over $3.5 million in total awards.
In a statement, the Pauahi Foundation — which manages and supports Kamehameha Schools’ scholarship programs — said the decision to sunset Kipona is part of a broader effort to “realign our programs with our Strategic Plan 2030.”
“Over the years, general scholarship programs like Kipona have served our communities well,” the foundation said. “However, as we look to the future, we recognize the need to redesign our programs in ways that are created with communities and families … developed in collaboration with donors … (and) informed by our partners, so we can better serve their specific needs.”
Kamehameha Schools said it is still evaluating how funds previously allocated to Kipona will be redirected, but any new efforts will be guided by the institution’s 2030 strategic plan. One of the plan’s core goals is to “advance our kaiaulu (community)” by strengthening Native Hawaiian identity through Hawaiian culture-based education and developing ‘Oiwi leaders across key sectors.
The transition allows Kamehameha Schools to restructure its scholarship programs to better align with its educational priorities, emphasizing support for students in programs that integrate Hawaiian culture and identity. The Pauahi Foundation continues to fund initiatives that advance Kamehameha Schools’ mission of serving the educational needs of Native Hawaiian students.
While the discontinuation of Kipona means there will no longer be scholarships available for Native Hawaiian students attending non-Kamehameha K–12
private schools, other
Kamehameha-funded programs — such as those supporting preschool and post-secondary education — will continue.
Current recipients can continue to renew their scholarships annually through the Pauahi Foundation, which will oversee all of Kamehameha Schools’ scholarship programs moving forward.
“By creating more flexible, community-informed programs, we strengthen our commitment to our E Ola! learner outcomes and Hawaiian culture-based education,” the foundation said.
500 Ala Moana Blvd. #2-200
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 529-4747
Our Company
Subscribers
More
