Hawaiʻi students can now keep more of their earned grant money for community college thanks to a new law that revises the Hawaiʻi Promise Program.

Initially, based on a student’s financial need, the Hawaiʻi Promise would grant up to the total amount the student needed to fill any gaps to cover tuition. However, if the student were to receive external scholarships or financial help for indirect costs — things like food, transportation or housing – the program would deduct those amounts from the provided aid.

Act 235 removes this restriction, ensuring additional awards do not hurt the amount of aid a student is eligible for.

Erica Nakanishi-Stanis is the advocacy director at HawaiiKidsCAN, a local student success advocacy organization.

“Under the old structure, you thought you had all these costs in hand, and you thought you were working extra hard to be able to meet all the expenses necessary, and then finding out that actually no, because you worked extra hard, you have less now,” Nakanishi-Stanis said. “It was just a counterintuitive and counterproductive structure.”