ABOUT OUR SCHOLARSHIP:

ESTABLISHED IN 1918

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole established the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu in 1918 to elevate the social & intellectual status of all Hawaiians and to increase pride in Hawaiian heritage. While delegate in Congress from Hawai‘i, Kūhiō made a trip back home in early 1917 and one day, as he stood at the corner of Fort and King Streets watching people walk by, he realized not only did he not know these people as they passed by, but also, they did not know him. He wondered where they were going, what was going on in their minds, what they did, where they lived. Kūhiō knew that Honolulu was growing, that Hawaii was growing. He wondered, were they aware of how Hawai‘i could grow and they, with her?

Kūhiō’s concern was deep seated. He wanted his Hawaiian to be educated. He wanted him to elevate himself. He wanted to instill in and promote the economic, intellectual, social status, well-being of the Hawaiian in his community and he wanted sincerely to see Hawai‘i’s culture to be forever preserved, not only for the Hawaiian but for all Hawai‘i. With this trend of thought, he called together a group of his very close friends to plant the seeds for the Hawaiian Civic Club.

The organization was founded with three objectives in mind at a time when socio-economic indicators were dismal for many Hawaiians. In order to help turn this situation around, Prince Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole had three founding objectives in mind when he established the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu:

• 1) Elevate (restore) the social status of Hawaiians

• 2) Elevate (restore) the intellectual status of Hawaiians

• 3) Increase pride in race heritage and Hawaiian identity

Since our club’s founding, there have been many efforts to help meet these objectives.

INSPIRING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The purpose of the Scholarship Program is to inspire academic achievement and to facilitate Hawaiians in their quest to attain higher levels of education, thus improving representation of Hawaiians at post-secondary schools and equipping them with the academic tools necessary to improve their economic welfare.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

The amount of the award is determined by the HCCH Scholarship Awards Subcommittee. Awards vary and are based on the quality of the interview and letter of recommendation. Scholarship checks are made payable to the scholarship recipient and the post-high institution and are mailed directly to the university, college, or vocational program financial aid office. Scholarship funds may be used for tuition, fees, books and other educational expenses.

In 2024, HCCH awarded a total of $50,000. 32 students received up to $3,000 in scholarship to pursue their higher education goals.

GENERAL QUALIFICATION CRITERIA:

• Be a resident of Hawai‘i.

• Be a full-time student in an accredited two- or four-year college as a classified undergraduate student or a vocational program full-time student in or out of the State of Hawai‘i.

• Have a cumulative grade point average (G.P.A.) of 2.5 for graduating high school seniors or undergraduate students. If cumulative G.P.A. is less than 2.5 provide a letter of explanation for consideration.

• Official transcript required to be considered for this scholarship.  Your official transcript will need to be mailed to P.O.Box 1513

  Honolulu, HI 96806. Please submit prior to the deadline.

• Be mindful of the ordering and receiving timeline and process when contacting your school registrar for the necessary documents.

• Official Transcript must be signed by academic institution.

• Unofficial transcripts taken from online portals will not be accepted and application will be disqualified.

Contact us via email at hcchonoluluscholarship@gmail.com if you have any questions regarding this requirement.

• HCCH bylaws/policy gives preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry to the extent that the law permits.

Applicant Interviews:

Interviews will be conducted virtually by the HCCH Scholarship committee. Applicants will be notified after deadline regarding scheduling of an interview. Interviews will be held in June 2025.

Letter of Recommendation:

• One letter of recommendation (LOR) is required to meet application criteria.

• LOR should come from a school teacher, professor, coach, or extra-curricular leader.

• LOR should share about an applicant’s character, contributions, activities, and potential for completing a college degree. 

LOR to be uploaded as .pdf into application. Please submit name and relationship of recommender to applicant on application when uploading the document. Please reach out if unable to upload directly to application form via email hcchonoluluscholarship@gmail.com

IMPORTANT DATES:

April 1, 2025: Program opens, application and supplemental information available online

June 10, 2025: Deadline for scholarship applications.

June 2025: Schedule applicant virtual interviews

July/August 2025: Notification of scholarship awards

CONTACT US:

Have additional questions or concerns? For questions related to the application process, please contact hcchonoluluscholarship@gmail.com