PUHI — There was a lot more than cocktails and pupus on the minds of Kauai’s Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night as they mingled with visiting University of Hawaii Interim President Dr. David Lassner. Many of them were parents of
PUHI — There was a lot more than cocktails and pupus on the minds of Kauai’s Chamber of Commerce Wednesday night as they mingled with visiting University of Hawaii Interim President Dr. David Lassner. Many of them were parents of children they want to attend college or adult children who weren’t able to complete their education.
Bob Swanson, Swanson and Associates, expects college to be an option for his 11-year-old daughter but doesn’t have a big savings account set aside for her.
“I’m just trying to see she has a good enough education now so she’ll see the value in going to college,” said Swanson.
“Programs are working more closely with high schools to be sure they are prepared for college and know how to fill out all the appropriate forms are important for the success of our future,” said Dr. Lassner. “We need to keep high school students on the right path because it can be so easy to drift through a course catalog.”
Event attendee Chuck Lasker said he’s been concerned about tuition costs for a while now. He knows firsthand about college expenses having gone through the process with one of his sons.
“He was able to use scholarship money for his tuition but then the cost of living just got to be too much,” said Lasker. “But I think KCC is doing as good a job as they can to keep costs down.”
Kelvin Moniz, Kauai Independent Food Bank, believes a lot of youths think college costs too much.
“They don’t want to take the money away from their parents, but there are a lot of scholarships offered if people pursue them,” he said.
Returning recently from an invitation-only workshop in Washington D.C., Lassner recalled listening to both President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama.
“Michelle is especially passionate about college accessibility, especially among low-income students,” said Lassner.
