educationstate

University Tuition — The Non-Resident Differential Removed, Not Residency Granted

Serving members, their authorised dependants, state Guard and reserve members, and veterans using their federal education entitlement pay the resident rate. At the flagship campus that is $5,880 a semester instead of $16,896 — a difference of $11,016 each term.

Verified August 23, 2026

What this benefit is

What it's worth: $11,016 a semester at the flagship campus — the non-resident differential, removed

The registrar publishes 2026–27 undergraduate tuition at the flagship campus as $5,880 a semester resident and $16,896 a semester non-resident at twelve or more credits. The difference is $11,016 a term, or $22,032 over two.
The categories named are active-duty members; authorised dependants of active-duty members; members of the state national guard; and members of the state reserves.
A separate veterans track covers the Montgomery GI Bill, Veteran Readiness and Employment, the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the Dependents’ Educational Assistance Program and the Fry Scholarship.
For the active-duty exemption, the service member’s report date on orders must fall before or within the semester for that semester to count. For the Guard and reserve exemption, the approval, contract effective or transfer date must do the same.
The status is held only by a continuing student with no break in attendance.
Below twelve credits a per-credit rate applies instead of the flat semester rate, so the differential is proportionately smaller.

This record exists to correct a myth. This is not residency. HRS §304A-402 still sets the basic rule — twelve consecutive months’ bona fide residence before the first day of instruction, or graduation from a high school here within the preceding two years. The exemption removes the price difference without making anyone a resident, which matters for anything else that turns on residency.

Who is entitled to it

The policy reaches serving members, their dependants, state Guard and reserve members, and veterans on a federal entitlement.
Title 10 active duty members and their authorised dependants are named.
Members of the state national guard and the state reserves are named.
A separate veterans track covers those using a federal education entitlement.
Your home is in this state.

Not sure whether that describes you?

Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.

How to claim it

Deadline: Before or within the semester you are claiming

1Send the registrar a copy of the service member’s orders. If your name is not on them, add a military identification card, a marriage certificate, or another official document proving current authorised dependant status.
2Include anything showing an extended rotation — an end of rotation, PRD or DEROS date — where the orders alone do not show how long the assignment runs.
3If you are claiming through the state Guard or reserves instead, send the enlistment contract, transfer paperwork, or orders to a unit based here.
4Watch the semester boundary. The report, approval, contract or transfer date has to be before or within the semester you are claiming, so a date a week into the following term costs you a full term at the non-resident rate.
5Do not break enrolment. The status is held by a continuing student; a gap term is what most often ends it.
6If you are using a federal education entitlement rather than a current assignment, go through the veteran student services office instead — that is a separate track with its own policy.

File with: The campus registrar or the veteran student services office
Each term: Claimed per academic term.

CorrectionThis is not residency. HRS §304A-402 still sets the basic rule — twelve consecutive months’ bona fide residence before the first day of instruction, or graduation from a high school here within the preceding two years. The exemption removes the price difference without making anyone a resident, which matters for anything else that turns on residency.

CorrectionThe exemption survives a transfer out. A continuing student who qualified as an authorised dependant keeps the exemption from the non-resident differential when the service member is transferred out of the State on military orders. Families who assume a permanent change of station ends it have re-priced a degree for no reason.

Worth knowingEligibility runs through degree completion so long as the member on whom it is based stays on active duty. On retirement, or on voluntary separation, the current-service route ends — and a separate route opens under the regents’ policy implementing section 1005 of Public Law 116-315.

Worth knowingThe figures here are the flagship campus’s. Community college and neighbour-island campus rates are lower, and the differential is correspondingly smaller. The policy is systemwide; the money is not.

Known gapThe regents’ policy 6.208, which governs the veterans track under federal law, was not read in full this session — only the executive policy that cross-references it and the campus page that summarises it. Confirm the entitlement chapters it covers with the veteran student services office.

Sources

authority · published policyUniversity of Hawaii Executive Policy 6.207 — Exemptions to non-resident tuition (military categories and continuation after transfer)
operating · published policyUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa — Exemption to Non-Resident Tuition Rate (categories, documents and deadlines)
supporting · fee scheduleUniversity of Hawaii at Manoa Office of the Registrar — Undergraduate tuition and fees, 2026–27

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