More students are graduating from Hawaiʻi high schools with college credits and experience in career preparation programs, new data shows, but it’s not necessarily translating to higher college attendance.

Nearly a quarter of seniors from Hawaiʻi public schools earned honors in their career preparation programs last year, compared to 9% in 2017, according to recent data published by Hawaiʻi P-20 Partnerships for Education. Career pathways offered students coursework and training in fields from welding and business management to nursing and culinary arts.

When it comes to taking college courses in high school, nearly 30% of the class of 2025 earned credits, compared to 17% in 2017. The percentage of students earning six or more college credits more than doubled in the same time frame, with 19% of seniors meeting the benchmark last year.

But the state’s college attendance rate has remained stagnant at around 51% percent over the past four years, according to Hawaiʻi P-20. The attendance rate includes students who enroll in any college —including those in the University of Hawaiʻi system — in the first fall after their high school graduation.

Of those who do enroll in college, more students are earning their bachelor’s degrees in-state: 16% of seniors attended a four-year campus in the UH system last year, the highest proportion of a graduating class in the last eight years. Students who earned college credits while in high school attended college at a higher rate than the rest of their classmates, according to Hawaiʻi P-20.

At the same time, UH has seen a drop in the percentage of graduating high school seniors attending its community colleges. Only 18% of the class of 2025 attended a UH community college last fall, compared to 23% of the class of 2017.

School leaders are aiming to reverse this trend through a new initiative simplifying admissions to UH community colleges. Students with a GPA of 2.7 or higher also receive guaranteed admission to UH West Oʻahu and UH Hilo. 

The program was rolled out last fall with the goal of making the UH application process easier and more appealing for the class of 2026. 

While the state has heavily invested in expanding career preparation programs and college courses available in high schools, some educators have raised concerns that these initiatives aren’t benefiting all students equally. For example, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students have been less likely to take college courses in high school than their Asian and Filipino counterparts, according to 2023 research from Hawaiʻi P-20.

Significant gender disparities also persist in the career preparation programs students pursue in the Department of Education. For example, boys are more likely to take classes in construction and information technology, while girls dominate programs related to healthcare and teaching.

Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy, and “Data Dive” is supported in part by the Will J. Reid Foundation.