Guides · State programs · By FastTrack Advising

Early College and Running Start in Hawaii: the dual credit program, explained for parents

Published September 18, 2026

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Hawaii runs college credit in high school as two programs under one statute. Early College brings University of Hawaii courses to the high school campus, and the high school usually pays. Running Start sends the student to a UH campus, where community college tuition is $131 a credit and the family or a scholarship covers it.

Who: Public high school students in grades 9 through 12, under 21 as of September 1
The law: HRS 302A-401 creates the dual credit program and says nothing about who pays
Early College: Taught at the high school by UH faculty, with the high school typically covering the cost
Running Start: Taken on a UH campus at that campus’s tuition rate, paid by the family, the high school, or a scholarship
Community college tuition: $131 a credit for Hawaii residents, about $393 for a three-credit course
Where it runs: Nine UH campuses take Running Start students; UH Manoa does not

What the statute does and does not do

HRS 302A-401 creates the dual credit program inside the Department of Education and lets an eligible student enroll in any qualified course offered by the University of Hawaii system. An eligible student is a public high school student in grades 9 through 12 who has passed a college-approved assessment showing they can succeed at college level and who is under 21 as of September 1 of that school year.

A qualified course is any vocational or academic UH course that also applies to the department's graduation requirements, or that department rule or policy otherwise permits.

What the statute does not do is name a payer. There is no state rule making the course free and no statewide tuition rate for high school students, so the cost answer comes from the program and the campus rather than from the law.

The difference between Early College and Running Start

Early College courses are held on the high school campus, with the student's own classmates, taught by University of Hawaii faculty. The University's dual credit site lists the high school as the party that typically covers the cost.

Running Start puts the student in a regular college class on a UH campus, alongside enrolled college students of every age. The same site lists the cost as varying between the student and family, the high school, and a scholarship.

Which of the two exists depends on the high school. UH West Oahu runs its Early College program cost-free for students at James Campbell, Kapolei, Nanakuli, Waianae, and Waipahu high schools. Leeward Community College states that all college expenses in Early College, including tuition, books, lab fees, and transportation, are the student's responsibility unless a scholarship covers them.

What a course costs at each campus

Resident tuition at the University of Hawaii community colleges is $131 a credit, which puts a three-credit course at $393 before books. Hawaii Community College adds a student activity fee of $1.50 a credit up to $15, a student government fee of $1 a credit up to $10, and a $5 publications fee.

A four-year campus costs more. UH Hilo charges resident undergraduates $312 a credit for 2025-26, so the same three credits taken there run $936. A family choosing between two Running Start campuses is choosing between two prices for work that may transfer identically inside the system.

What we tell families in Hawaii is to price the campus before picking the course, because the gap between a community college seat and a four-year seat is wider here than the course catalog suggests.

Getting in: placement, age, and the counselor’s signature

Running Start is for students in grade 11 or 12 at any public high school in the state, and they have to be under 21 as of September 1 of the school year the course is taken. Admission also requires the campus's math and English placement scores and whatever other admission requirements it sets.

The paperwork runs through the school. The student completes the Dual Credit application with a parent or guardian, the counselor, and the principal signing off, and the counselor is the person who knows the campus deadline. The University's own advice is to ask both the high school counselor and the campus Running Start contact, because the dates are not uniform.

Early College eligibility is set school by school. Leeward asks for good academic standing with a 2.0 GPA minimum and aims most of its programs at juniors and seniors, while its Running Start pathway takes younger students under 21.

Scholarships, and which ones cover what

GEAR UP Hawaii offers a limited number of scholarships to students considered economically disadvantaged, covering tuition, fees, and required textbooks for one three or four credit class. For the Summer 2026 term the GEAR UP application closed on March 27, 2026, months ahead of the class itself.

Campuses add their own. Leeward lists a Kalaeloa Partners scholarship worth an estimated $500 toward tuition and books, covering up to 12 credits, awarded first come, first served.

Because the money is limited and dated, the scholarship deadline is the real deadline for a family that cannot pay tuition out of pocket. Put it on the calendar a term ahead of the course.

Where the credit lands

Credit from either program sits on a University of Hawaii transcript and counts inside the UH system. Nine campuses take Running Start students: Hawaii, Honolulu, Kapiolani, Kauai, Leeward, and Windward community colleges, along with UH Hilo, UH Maui College, and UH West Oahu.

UH Manoa does not participate in Running Start, so a student aiming at Manoa is earning credit at another campus and relying on it carrying across. Ask the receiving campus how a specific course applies to a specific major before stacking several of them.

Questions to ask your counselor

Bring these to the first meeting. The answers decide most of the plan.

Does our high school run Early College, and which courses are on the list this year?
If my teen takes Running Start, which campus, and what does a credit cost there?
Who pays the tuition bill for this course, and is there a form that says so?
When does the GEAR UP or campus scholarship application close for the term we want?
How does this course count toward graduation here, and who confirms that?

Frequently asked

Is dual enrollment free in Hawaii?

Not by law. HRS 302A-401 creates the dual credit program without naming who pays. Early College is typically covered by the high school, while Running Start students pay University of Hawaii tuition and fees unless the high school or a scholarship covers them.

How much does Running Start cost in Hawaii?

At a community college, $131 a credit for residents, so about $393 for a three-credit course before books and fees. At UH Hilo, resident undergraduate tuition is $312 a credit for 2025-26. The student also pays for books, campus fees, and transportation.

Who can do Running Start in Hawaii?

Students in grade 11 or 12 at a public high school in the state who are under 21 as of September 1 of that school year, who meet the campus's math and English placement requirements, and who have counselor and principal sign-off on the Dual Credit application.

What is the difference between Early College and Running Start?

Early College courses meet on the high school campus with the student's own classmates and UH faculty teaching. Running Start places the student in a regular college class on a UH campus. The cost usually falls on the high school in the first case and on the family in the second.

Which UH campuses take Running Start students?

Nine: Hawaii, Honolulu, Kapiolani, Kauai, Leeward, and Windward community colleges, plus UH Hilo, UH Maui College, and UH West Oahu. UH Manoa does not participate.

Can a Hawaii 9th grader take a college course?

The statute makes students in grades 9 through 12 eligible for the dual credit program, and the state describes Early College as serving grades 9 through 12. Running Start is limited to grades 11 and 12, so a ninth grader's route is whatever Early College the high school offers.

Sources

Hawaii Revised Statutes § 302A-401, Dual credit program · the program itself, grades 9 through 12, the under-21 rule, the qualified course definition, and the absence of any cost provision
University of Hawaii, Dual Credit · the difference between Early College and Running Start and who typically pays for each
University of Hawaii, Running Start · the nine participating campuses, UH Manoa's absence, the under-21 rule, the deadline advice, and GEAR UP
Hawaii State Department of Education, College and Career Readiness · Early College as UH courses for grades 9 through 12 taught at the high school, Running Start as regular UH classes, and transportation
Hawaii Running Start brochure, Hawaii State Department of Education · grade 11 or 12 eligibility, the September 1 age rule, the application steps, and that students pay UH tuition and fees
Hawaii Community College, Tuition and Fees · the $131 resident rate a credit and the student activity, student government, and publications fees
UH Hilo Tuition Schedule · the $312 resident undergraduate rate a credit for 2025-26
Leeward Community College, Early College · college expenses being the student's responsibility, the 2.0 GPA floor, and the $500 Kalaeloa Partners scholarship for up to 12 credits

Rules change. These were checked September 2026. Confirm the current version with your school before you act on any of it.

About FastTrack Advising

FastTrack Advising. FastTrack Advising works on dual enrollment and nothing else. We help families choose college courses a high schooler can take now that will still count toward the degree later, we check every course against the transfer rules of the colleges they name, and we stay in the picture through registration so the plan gets used. When the answer for a student is to wait a term, we say that too.

Other state programs

All state programs

PSEO (Minnesota) Free tuition, books, and required fees for 10th through 12th graders, with a May 30 notice deadline that many families miss.
Running Start (Washington) Tuition-free college courses for juniors and seniors at Washington's community and technical colleges and a few universities. Families still pay fees and books, and the student gets to campus on their own.
College Credit Plus (Ohio) Open to 7th through 12th graders, free at Ohio public colleges for public school students, with an April 1 letter of intent and a 30-credit annual cap.
Dual credit (Texas) Each college sets its rate and each district decides how much to cover. Students who qualified for free or reduced lunch in the last five years pay nothing at colleges in the FAST program.
Dual enrollment (Florida) Tuition-free by state law, with a 3.0 unweighted GPA and a qualifying PERT, SAT, or ACT score to get in. Public school students get textbooks covered too.
Dual enrollment (California) Community college courses for 9th through 12th graders through a district partnership called CCAP, with no enrollment fees and no textbook costs, capped at 15 units a term.
Dual Enrollment (Georgia) State funding covers tuition, fees, and books for 30 semester hours, mostly for juniors and seniors. After 30 hours the family pays the college's rate, and ninth graders are outside the program entirely.
Career & College Promise (North Carolina) Tuition paid by the state at community colleges for juniors and seniors with a 2.8 unweighted GPA. Whether the district covers fees and books, and who drives, varies by district.
Concurrent Enrollment (Colorado) Open to 9th through 12th graders with an approved academic plan. The district pays tuition at the community college rate; books and fees are usually the family's, and so is getting to campus.
Dual credit (Illinois) Governed by the Dual Credit Quality Act and a model agreement between each district and college. Whether your teen pays depends on that agreement.
Early College Credit and Start College Now (Wisconsin) Two programs, one for the technical colleges and one for universities, both for juniors and seniors. The district pays most or all of the tuition, and applications are due March 1 for fall and October 1 for spring.
Dual credit (Indiana) Every Indiana high school has to offer dual credit. Priority courses at public colleges cost at most $25 a credit hour, and nothing for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual enrollment (Michigan) Grades 9 through 12, for courses the high school doesn't offer. The district pays tuition up to a state-set share; anything above it, plus books, is yours. Ten courses across high school.
Dual Enrollment (Alabama) Rising 10th through 12th graders with a 2.5 GPA, at $133 a credit hour plus fees, with a state scholarship that covers some courses when the legislature funds it. No credit cap at all.
Dual Enrollment (Tennessee) The lottery-funded Dual Enrollment Grant pays up to $620.55 for each of the first five courses, then much less. One June 30 application covers the whole academic year.
Dual enrollment (Pennsylvania) Every school entity has to hold at least one dual credit agreement, and none of them has to pay for the courses. The agreement states the cost, and published rates run from $83.50 to $230 a credit.
Dual enrollment (Virginia) Juniors and seniors at the community colleges. Courses on a College and Career Ready Virginia pathway cost the family nothing, and courses outside it are billed at the college rate.
Dual enrollment (Arizona) A community college course taught inside the high school during the school day. Concurrent enrollment is the separate arrangement where the student goes to the college. Price is set district by district.
Dual enrollment (South Carolina) College courses through the state's 16 technical colleges, priced by each college and district, with Lottery Tuition Assistance covering part of the tuition once a student carries six credit hours in a term.
Dual enrollment (Louisiana) A Board of Regents floor for eligibility, four ways to clear it, and a bill the district assembles out of state and federal funds. TOPS Tech Early Start covers career courses for juniors and seniors.
Dual enrollment (Maryland) The Blueprint moved the bill off families for students who meet the College and Career Readiness Standard, and set a floor of two covered courses each fall and spring. Counties add their own terms on top.
Concurrent Enrollment (Utah) College courses for $5 a credit hour, taught mostly inside the high school by a college-approved teacher. Each college sets its own admission bar, and books are still yours.
Concurrent Enrollment (Oklahoma) Juniors and seniors get tuition waived by the State Regents, 18 credit hours a year for seniors and 9 for juniors. Fees and books stay with the family, and each college sets its own entrance bar.
Dual enrollment (New York) No single statewide program. CUNY's College Now is free for New York City public school students, SUNY campuses price their own, and a new state rule makes districts file their partnership agreements in 2026.
Dual enrollment (Massachusetts) Two state programs. CDEP waives tuition and fees at public campuses for eligible high schoolers, mostly in the spring, and designated Early College builds the courses into the school day at no cost.
Concurrent Enrollment (Iowa) College courses run through a district contract with a community college, at no tuition cost to the family. Iowa also runs PSEO, and the two programs treat a failed course differently.
Concurrent Credit (Arkansas) State policy bars a college from billing the family for tuition, fees, or materials on a concurrent credit course. A 2025 scholarship replaced the old Concurrent Challenge grant and pays $65 a credit hour.
Dual Enrollment and Dual Credit (Mississippi) Mississippi separates the two terms in statute. Dual enrollment earns college credit only; dual credit earns high school credit too, and the distinction decides whether the course helps your teen graduate.
Dual Enrollment (Nebraska) Nebraska has no single statewide program, so the price depends on which college your high school partners with. The ACE scholarship covers tuition and mandatory fees for students who qualify on income.
Dual Credit (New Mexico) A statewide program where the college charges no tuition and the school district buys the books. Families pay special course fees and transportation, and the guidance is two courses a semester until graduation requirements are done.
Early College (Maine) Maine pays college tuition for high schoolers through the Aspirations Program, and the class of 2027 forward gets 18 tuition-free credits for the whole of high school.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (New Hampshire) The state and the community colleges cover two courses a year for students in grades 10 through 12, and most of those courses are taught inside the high school.
Dual Enrollment (Vermont) Two vouchers, each covering tuition on a college course of up to four credits, for any Vermont student who has finished grade 10, including home study students.
Dual credit (West Virginia) A state-funded pilot pays tuition and academic fees for courses on approved career pathways, for public, private, charter, microschool, learning pod, and homeschool students alike.
Dual enrollment (Delaware) No statewide program makes it free. State regulation puts the policy on every district and charter, bars turning a student away over money, and most courses run through Delaware Tech.
Dual enrollment (New Jersey) No statewide free tuition. Public colleges must sign dual enrollment agreements and districts choose whether to join, so the price and the eligibility rules come from your own county college.
Dual enrollment (Connecticut) A board policy rather than a statute sets the rules. Concurrent credit courses are capped at $50 a credit, CT State covers two courses a semester for qualifying juniors and seniors, and UConn ECE has run since 1955.
Accelerated learning (Oregon) Oregon calls the whole category accelerated learning. Dual credit at the high school is free or close to it at most community colleges, and Expanded Options moves a junior or senior onto a campus at no charge to the student.
Dual enrollment (Nevada) No statewide free tuition. Districts sign cooperative agreements with NSHE colleges and each agreement names who pays, so the price runs from $25 a credit at the high school to $154 on a university campus.
Concurrent enrollment (Kansas) Concurrent enrollment means the college course is taught at the high school, and it is not free by default. Excel in CTE pays tuition for approved technical courses, and a district board may cover the rest if it chooses to.
Dual Credit (Kentucky) A $99 ceiling on what a college may charge a high school student, and a state scholarship that pays that rate for one general education course a year.
Dual Credit (Missouri) Missouri draws a line between dual credit and dual enrollment based on who teaches, and the price and the GPA tier both follow from that.
Dual Credit (Idaho) Every Idaho public school student gets $4,625 to spend on college credit between grades 7 and 12, and the fund pays $75 a credit, which is what colleges charge.
Dual Credit (North Dakota) Tuition is the family's here, at a reduced rate that changes with who teaches the course, and Bank of North Dakota covers two courses a year for students on free or reduced lunch.
Dual Credit (South Dakota) Juniors and seniors split a deeply reduced tuition rate with the state, at $80.37 a credit hour, under a statute with a hard rule about what happens if a course goes badly.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Rhode Island) A state fund covers tuition and fees for part-time college courses at the three public institutions, and the statute behind it caps that fund at whatever the budget appropriates each year.
Dual Enrollment (Alaska) No state program and no state money behind it. What a college course costs an Alaska family depends on which University of Alaska campus offers it and whether the school district signed an agreement.
Dual Enrollment (Montana) The first two courses or six credits carry no tuition anywhere in the Montana University System, fees are waived, and everything after that costs half of resident two-year tuition, around $60 a credit.
Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (Wyoming) State law bars a college from charging a participating student for textbooks, materials, student services, or any other fee, and from 2026-27 the state starts reimbursing districts for what it costs them.

Planning Early College and Running Start for your teen?

Save this page and the state's deadlines show up on your own My FastTrack page, next to the tools. Which courses to take, in which order, so the credits still count at the college your teen ends up at, is the part we do with families.

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