About the University of Hawaiʻi

The primary mission of the university is to provide environments in which faculty, staff and students can discover, examine critically, preserve and transmit the knowledge, wisdom, and values that will help ensure the survival of present and future generations with improvement in the quality of life.

In carrying out that mission, it is the basic purpose of the university to afford all qualified people of Hawaiʻi an equal opportunity for quality college and university education at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

As the only provider of public higher education in Hawaiʻi, the university embraces its unique responsibilities to the indigenous people of Hawaiʻi and to Hawaiʻi’s indigenous language and culture. To fulfill this responsibility, the university ensures active support for the participation of Native Hawaiians at the university and support vigorous programs of study and support for the Hawaiian language, history, and culture.

Within its unique geographical location, the university will serve as a leader in how its stewards the resources of the islands and the world for the benefit of all. The university shall be a global leader and model for the integration of sustainability throughout its teaching, research, operations, and public service. The university recognizes than an important knowledge base in sustainable island systems resides in the indigenous people of Hawaiʻi and all those for whom Hawaiʻi is home. The university commits to consult with local cultural practitioners and sustainability experts on best practices in sustainable resource allocation and use for the well-being of our communities, our state, and the world. Critical resources include energy, food, water, land and sea as they are integrated with the relationships of family, culture, community, justice, work, and economy in the present and future.

From Regent’s Policy 4.201

In 1907, the Hawaiʻi Territorial Legislature established the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in Honolulu under terms of the U.S. land grant legislation.

Since then, what began as a college of ten students and 13 faculty members has evolved and expanded to a 10-campus system spanning the Hawaiian Islands. The University of Hawaiʻi has grown and responded through the years to the research and cultural needs of its educational community, the State of Hawaiʻi and beyond.

View a timeline of the University of Hawaiʻi and its development over more than a century.