Kapiolani Community College and UH Manoa establish degree pathway partnership agreement

Through the Ka'ie'ie Program, students can be enrolled at both campuses but attend classes at Kapiolani CC at the community college tuition rate

Kapiʻolani Community College
Contact:
Louise Pagotto, (808) 734-9517
Acting Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Kristen Bonilla, (808) 956-5039
External Affairs & University Relations
Posted: May 10, 2007

HONOLULU — Kapiʻolani Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa today signed a degree pathway partnership agreement that will allow students to enroll at both campuses but take classes at Kapiʻolani CC at the community college tuition rate. The development of the Kaʻieʻie Program has been led by Kapiʻolani CC officials in an effort to better serve students and to provide the information they need to transfer successfully from one institution to another to complete their academic goals.

"Kapiʻolani Community College has long been a major feeder of students to UH Mānoa, and we know from looking at their subsequent successes that those students who get their start at Kapiʻolani CC do quite well once they transfer to UH Mānoa," said Kapiʻolani CC Interim Chancellor Leon Richards. "It is especially meaningful that the signing of this agreement during the UH Centennial year gives us an opportunity to toast the future of the university as well as celebrate its past and the long-standing relationship between Kapiʻolani CC and UH Mānoa."

The Kaʻieʻie Program is a dual-enrollment, dual-admission program for students pursuing their first four-year undergraduate degree who are accepted at UH Mānoa but choose to begin their studies at Kapiʻolani CC.

The program offers two paths for students: 1) they can apply and be accepted to UH Mānoa but declare Kapiʻolani CC their home institution and take their courses at Kapiʻolani CC, or 2) they can begin at Kapiʻolani CC and apply through the program to UH Mānoa after earning 24 credits and maintaining a 2.0 GPA at Kapiʻolani CC. Once accepted to UH Mānoa, these students can choose to continue taking classes at Kapiʻolani CC, still indicating the campus as their home institution.

"This agreement is designed to encourage Kapiʻolani students to identify themselves early as Mānoa-bound," said UH Mānoa Interim Chancellor Denise Konan. "By providing qualified Kapiʻolani CC students access to UH Mānoa advising, student services, and campus life, we will lower transactions costs and help them to be more engaged and prepared within their academic majors. I hope that this will become a model for similar agreements with other UH community colleges in the future."

Students admitted under the Kaʻieʻie Program will be eligible to apply for scholarships and grants offered to UH Mānoa students upon transfer to UH Mānoa, and will be afforded the same privileges afforded to all first-year transfer students. Upon paying students fees, Kaʻieʻie Program students will have access to all activities and services covered by student fees at both campuses and will be issued a special ID card that will grant full access to libraries, campus culture events and sporting events at both campuses.

The Kaʻieʻie Program aims to promote successful undergraduate educational experiences for Kapiʻolani CC students who wish to follow academic degrees begun at Kapiʻolani CC and completed at UH Mānoa. It was developed in an effort to improve student access, success and four-year degree completion; use resources at both institutions more efficiently and effectively to focus on transfer issues; make the process of moving from one campus to the next as smooth as possible; and expand on-campus services and student options for college-level success and curriculum.

For more information, visit: http://www.kapiolani.hawaii.edu