Lāhaināluna High School students impacted by the Aug. 8 wildfires are now eligible to receive a full scholarship at the University of Hawai‘i for either two or four years, according to a Monday news release.
Prior to the announcement, the university had promised to provide students with a scholarship for up to a year. However, an anonymous donor's recent contribution will now cover tuition, fees and supplies for students seeking a two-year degree from UH community colleges or a four-year degree from a university.
“We are continuing to work to ensure we assist any of our current students who were impacted by the devastation on Maui. But it is important that we all support this special group of students who began high school during COVID and now end with the wildfires,” Lassner said in the release.
“This gift will be life-changing for these students at a particularly precarious time in their lives.”
Last week was the students’ first time back at four Lāhainā schools. The Hawai‘i Department of Education recorded 72% of 3,001 students enrolled in Lāhaināluna High, Lāhainā Intermediate, Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary and King Kamehameha III Elementary.
Some students have enrolled in other public, charter and private schools — or moved to the mainland.
Regardless of where Lāhainā students are registered, they still qualify for the scholarship as long as they were enrolled as a senior at Lāhaināluna High on Aug. 7.
