MEDIA RELEASE

Hawaii resident undergraduates attending the University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of Hawaii–West Oahu and the seven UH community colleges will benefit from a reduction in the 2011 summer session tuition schedule recently approved by the UH Board of Regents.

The reduction sets the 2011 summer session tuition rate for these campuses at $248 per-credit-hour, which was the summer session tuition rate in 2009 for the Hilo and West Oahu campuses.

The current tuition schedule from 2006-07 to 2011-12 had listed the 2011 summer session per-credit-hour tuition for Hawaii resident undergraduates attending UH Hilo and UH West Oahu at $316. The rate at Hawaii, Honolulu, Kapiolani, Kauai, Leeward, and Windward Community Colleges and UH Maui College was set to be $283.

The decrease in tuition is an incentive for Hawaii resident students to enroll in summer classes.

“We want to encourage students to attend summer session to help keep them on track to graduate on time. One of the university’s goals is to increase student graduation numbers while decreasing the time it takes to earn a degree,” said Linda Johnsrud, UH executive vice president for academic affairs/provost.

The university’s Hawaii Graduation Initiative aims to increase the number of college graduates by 25 percent by the year 2015. With a focus on improving access, affordability and student success, the university is working to increase the number of educated citizens in Hawaii, particularly underserved populations.

UH Hilo student Colin Mosher was excited about the reduced summer tuition rates.

“I was thrilled to hear of the recent decision to lower tuition for the summer session. I quickly did the math and the difference is enough to almost cover my rent,” Mosher said. “That is incentive enough for me to stay in Hilo and keep working toward getting my degree on time.”

The tuition reduction is for summer 2011 only. After assessing the impact of the rate change, the university will make recommendations for summer 2012.

The summer session tuition rate for UH Manoa will follow the current tuition schedule and will remain at $316 per-credit-hour.