A program is scheduled tonight on opportunities for Native Hawaiians to get scholarships for college. “These are the only scholarships that I’ve heard of that are given out every semester,” said Kauai Community College’s financial aid specialist, Roxanne Carvalho. “(In
A program is scheduled tonight on opportunities for Native Hawaiians to get scholarships for college.
“These are the only scholarships that I’ve heard of that are given out every semester,” said Kauai Community College’s financial aid specialist, Roxanne Carvalho. “(In some of these scholarships) you could get $1,500 just from one scholarship and that can pay entire tuition.”
Scholarship providers from Kamehameha Schools, Pauahi Foundation, Hawaii Community Foundation, Native Hawaiian Health Scholarship, and Alu Like are among the presenters scheduled for tonight’s presentation.
Carvalho said in the past, many of these scholarships haven’t had enough people apply.
“I’ve been trying to tell students to go for it, it’s free money and you could get a substantial scholarship,” she said.
The financial aid workshop will be at 5:30 p.m. at the Kauai Community College One Stop Center lobby.
“It’s a nice event, because it compiles it all into one and they bring in a bunch of Native Hawaiian scholarship representatives to talk about all the opportunities that are out there,” Carvalho said.
The event is open to anyone.
“Maybe your student is a junior (in high school), but it’s still a good opportunity to get yourself prepared,” Carvalho said.
Starting early is one of the workshop’s messages because applying for Native Hawaiian scholarships can be a long process. The applications are intense by themselves, but applicants also have to prove their Hawaiian ancestry. Anyone who can prove their Native Hawaiian ancestry can get tuition help for college through these scholarships.
Depending on the application, you may need to supply birth certificates for three generations in order to qualify. That process, however, can be started at any time. For instance, Carvalho said her 4-year-old daughter is already registered.
“I would recommend that students start to prove their Hawaiian ancestry right now if they haven’t done so already,” she said. “(The whole process) takes a lot of work sometimes, but it’s worth the effort.”
