HI HB2719

Establishes a community college tuition waiver pilot program beginning with the fall 2025 semester for students enrolled full-time at University of Hawaii community college campuses located in counties with populations under 100,000 residents.

Eligible students must meet one of two requirement sets: (1) be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen, state resident for 12+ months, qualify for resident tuition, be a Hawaii high school graduate, maintain satisfactory academic progress, remain continuously enrolled full-time, be physically present in the state, and be 25 years or younger; or (2) complete a FAFSA, be a county resident for 1+ year, attend high school in the county for 2+ years, and graduate from a county high school.

Defines "eligible non-citizen" to include U.S. permanent residents, conditional permanent residents, and holders of arrival-departure records (I-94) with designations of refugee, asylum granted, parolee, or Cuban-Haitian Entrant.

Pilot program terminates on June 30, 2026.

Requires the Board of Regents to submit a report to the legislature no later than 20 days before the 2027 regular session with implementation costs, statewide expansion costs, and a recommendation on whether to expand the program statewide.