University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents Presidential Scholarship

Scholarship Value: $22,000

Awards Available: 10

Award Deadline: Mar 1, 2025 (Deadline Estimated)


The Upper-level Scholarship Programs are selective scholarship awards that are designed to recognize and celebrate both the academic strengths and demonstrated community impact of degree-seeking students who enroll at UH Mānoa as transfer students. These scholarships include:

  • Presidential Scholarship (For Hawaiʻi Residents)
  • Transfer Merit Scholarship (All residency types)

This scholarship is awarded at the start of the student’s Mānoa degree pursuit and is intended to support the student’s enrollment for 2 years, as they progress toward degree completion. This scholarship amount awarded is applied toward and reduces the student’s tuition costs.

The Office of Admissions selects and awards these merit scholarships based on a student’s admission application, a holistic academic record review, and the student’s demonstrated impact on their community/communities. In addition to submitting the admission application, students must also submit 1) a list of activities/achievements and 2) a short-answer essay response to demonstrate their community impact. See the Selection Process for Scholarship Award section for more details and information.

Since these are selective scholarships, students must apply for admission by March 1. When a student who is eligible for these scholarships has been admitted, they will also receive instructions and information about how to submit additional required documents for scholarship consideration. The supplemental application for these Upper-level Scholarship Programs is due March 15. The Admissions and Scholarship Selection Committees will review applications in March and April, then notify applicants of the scholarship decisions around early May.

Criteria for Consideration

All admitted transfer, degree-seeking applicants or currently enrolled Mānoa rising Juniors who meet the eligibility criteria outlined below are encouraged to apply for consideration of these scholarships. In addition to your academic achievements, the scholarship selection committee will consider the ways that you make an impact on your community/communities.

  • Residency Status: Hawai’i Residents
  • Student type: Incoming transfer student or continuing Mānoa student
  • Class Standing: Junior class standing by the end of the spring semester
  • GPA: Students with a 3.7 college GPA or higher will be considered for this scholarship
  • Number of awards offered: Historically, Mānoa has awarded 10 Presidential Scholarships each year. Note: If a student is offered more than one merit award by the Office of Admissions, they may only accept one of the awards.

Selection Process for Scholarship Award

The Office of Admissions selects and awards these merit scholarships based on a student’s admission application, a holistic academic record review, and the student’s demonstrated impact on their community/communities. When a student who is eligible for these higher-tier scholarships has been admitted, they will also receive instructions and information about how to submit additional required documents for scholarship consideration.

In addition to submitting the admission application, students must also submit 2 supplemental documents:

  1. A list of activities/achievements that help us understand how you spend your time outside of the classroom. Provide as much information as you believe will help the admissions committee understand how you make an impact in your community/communities.
  2. A short-answer essay response to the following prompt: Share with us the way(s) that you make an impact in your community/communities through your activit(ies)/commitment(s) and why that impact is important to you. Some of the questions you may want to address in your response include: Why is that activity/commitment important to you? How will that experience shape your college career at Mānoa?

Responses should be between 250-400 words. Responses below or above this range are still acceptable, as long as you address the prompt.

Optional: You may also upload an updated transcript. We encourage you to submit updated grades if you have new academic information available since the time you originally applied for admission.

How to Apply:

Be Bold Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 01, 2024
$25,000
The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply.To us, boldest does not mean "best", or "most accomplished". Being bold means being:EarnestDeterminedMovingThe scholarship will be awarded to the student whose profile is most bold, according to these characteristics.Furthermore, the scholarship will be...

Niche $50,000 Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$50,000
Covering the cost of college expenses for four years without writing a single essay? Sounds too good to be true.It isn't with Niche. We are giving one student $50,000 (our biggest scholarship yet) to help pay for tuition, living expenses, books, and other educational expenses.Who Can ApplyAll high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college...

ScholarshipOwl No Essay Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 29, 2024
$1,000
ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college. No matter how much funding you need for school, we have the opportunities...

$3,500
The Christian Connector offers various scholarship drawings for Christian colleges. All of the information services provided by The Christian Connector are offered absolutely free!Eligibility:Students applying to the Christian Connector Scholarship must be current high school students (Class of 2025, 2026, or 2027) interested in attending a Christian university or college.About:The Christian Connector offers a "one-stop-shop" for receiving free information from...

Sallie Mae "No Essay" Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 30, 2024
$2,000
The $2,000 Sallie Mae Scholarship is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and any US Territory age 17 or older at the time of entry, and who meet one (1) of the four (4) following eligibility requirements at the time of entry:A parent who currently has a child enrolled in an accredited...

Future Leaders Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 30, 2024
$1,500
Since 1995, our mission has been to help connect students with the right schools for them. Carnegie Dartlet, the organization that houses CollegeXpress, is an educational publisher and higher education marketing agency. Every year, thousands of students across the United States and around the world discover their colleges using our websites, magazines, and services.To be eligible for the Scholarship you:A)...

The Future is Now Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 30, 2024
$1,001
The Lenny Scholarship offers $1,001 US to support young individuals aged 16 and above, enrolled in college and residing in the US or India. Automatic disqualification may occur for multiple applications.EligibilityYou must be a resident of the US or IndiaYou must be 16 years of age or olderYou must be enrolled in a college

$10,000
The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education. Whether you are a high school student who hopes to go to college, a graduate student who’s in a master’s program, or an adult learner who wants to return to school, you are eligible for our no essay scholarship.This scholarship...

Appily Easy Money Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 30, 2024
$1,000
The Appily scholarship application is fast and easy.Scholarship Eligibility: This scholarship is open to high school sophomores, juniors, and first semester senior students for all majors and schools. We will judge this scholarship based on other criteria such as volunteer work, extracurricular activities, special circumstances, etc.About the sponsors of the scholarship (EAB and Appily):EAB is the market leader in helping colleges...

Common App Scholarship

Deadline: Nov 30, 2024
$2,000
To encourage students to spend more time preparing for the Common App, Scholarship Guidance has created an annual scholarship to reward students.To be eligible for the Scholarship Guidance "Common App Scholarship" a student must:A) Be in Grade 11 or Grade 12B) Be attending college or university no later than October 1, 2026.C) Have achieved a GPA of 2.5 or greater...