Hawai‘i P-20 Grant

The Key to Success? Getting More Students To and Through College!

A unique statewide partnership is working to strengthen the education pipeline from early childhood through college and graduate study so that all students achieve academic and career success.

Called Hawai‘i P-20, the partnership between the Executive Office of Early Learning, the state Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i System works to increase college access and to help low-income and first-generation college students succeed academically.

The idea is simple: Help more students succeed in school, and you help them succeed in careers and in life.

The Harold K.L. Castle Foundation believes so strongly in this concept that its board of directors in June approved a $1,327,387 grant to the Hawai‘i P-20 program and the Early College Initiative.

“We are proud to support programs whose projects and values align with the Foundation’s core education and community goals,” said Terry George, Harold K.L. Castle Foundation president and CEO. “Hawai‘i needs to get more students to and through college, because nearly all well-paying jobs require a college degree. This grant to Hawai‘i P-20 will build partnerships that encourage college readiness and develop best practices for dual enrollment (which makes it possible for students to take college-accredited courses while still in high school).”

The Early College Initiative and Hawai‘i P-20 will work with up to seven competitively selected high school/community college partnerships over three years so that more students can graduate from high school already holding at least six college credits.

George said the goal of Hawai‘i P-20 is for 55 percent of Hawai‘i’s working-age adults to receive a post-secondary degree by 2025.

“That is an achievable goal that will be great for students and great for Hawai‘i,” he said.