Graduation season is officially underway in Hawaiʻi.
By the end of the month, roughly 11,000 students from 47 public schools will cross the stage and receive their diplomas. Ceremonies began last Saturday and will continue until May 27.
Waiʻanae High School’s ceremony, held near sunset on a pristine football field with views of both the ocean and the Waiʻanae mountains, was both solemn and jubilant.
There ceremony started with the blowing of pū — conch shells — and students stood for the Star-Spangled Banner and Hawaiʻi Pono‘ī, which had been the anthem of the Hawaiian Kingdom and is now the state anthem.
After the ceremony, families and friends showered graduates with lei and gifts.
Last spring, the education department graduated its largest high school class in at least eight years, with nearly 11,900 students earning their diplomas or certificates of completion.
But projections show numbers could drop in the near future, with Hawaiʻi expected to see the largest drop in high school graduates in the nation. Today’s three-year-olds — the future class of 2041 — are projected to graduate in a class of roughly 7,600 public school students. That’s a 33% drop in graduates since 2023, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.
The nation as a whole is expected to see a 10% decline in high school graduates, according to the commission.
Hawaiʻi schools are grappling with shrinking enrollment amid declining birth rates and more families with young children moving out of state. Lawmakers recently passed a bill that would require the Hawaiʻi Department of Education to close and consolidate small schools beginning in 2029 if recommended by an independent commission.
Three public schools – Niʻihau High and Elementary, Ke Kula ʻO ʻEhunuikaimalino on the Big Island and the Hawaiʻi School for the Deaf and the Blind in Honolulu – enrolled fewer than 10 seniors at the start of the year.
On the other end of the spectrum, Campbell High School in ʻEwa Beach had the state’s largest senior class of 765 students this year, followed by Mililani High School and Waipahu High School.
Some urban Honolulu high schools have seen significant drops in their enrollment in recent years. McKinley High School’s total enrollment fell by 28% between 2017 and 2025, while Kaimukī High School’s population dropped by 24% in the same time frame.
In recent years, Hawaiʻi has graduated more students earning college credits and receiving honors in their career preparation programs while in high school.
At Waiʻanae High School, nearly three-quarters of the graduating class completed a series of career preparation courses last year. The high school offers programs ranging from culinary arts and digital design to automotive maintenance and robotics.
Civil Beat’s education reporting is supported by a grant from Chamberlin Family Philanthropy.
