Hawaii Community College opens first-year program in Honokaa

Hawaii Community College has opened a new first-year pathway in Honokaa that aims to keep North Hawaii students on track without forcing them into a long daily commute to Hilo or Kona. The First Year Here at Kō pilot is designed for up to 20 students and will let them complete transferable general education courses close to home.

The program is a direct response to community conversations along the Hāmākua Coast, where distance, work schedules, family care and transportation costs can push students out of college before they build momentum. Classes will be held face-to-face in the morning at the Kō Education Center, giving students a local option for starting higher education while staying connected to jobs, ohana and community responsibilities.

Applications for the fall 2026 semester are due Aug. 1. Hawaii Community College said students who complete the first year at Kō can continue their studies at the Manono campus in Hilo or at Pālamanui in Kona, depending on their academic path and personal circumstances. The college said the first-year curriculum is transferable general education coursework, meant to lead into many different majors rather than a single track.

Campus operations coordinator Sandy Ott said the idea is to save students time and money while reducing the strain that comes with leaving home for class. Dean of liberal arts and sciences Jace Saplan said the pilot is intended to meet students where they are geographically, academically and personally, and to help them build relationships with faculty, counselors, staff and community partners.

The stakes are especially high in North Hawaii, where Kō Education Center sits in Honokaa, about 40 miles north of Hilo. That distance can mean repeated fuel costs, lost work hours and harder choices around childcare, especially for students who might otherwise stop out after one semester. By bringing the first year into Honokaa, Hawaii CC is trying to make enrollment more durable, not just more convenient.

The college has already invested heavily in the site. In January 2025, Hawaii CC said Kō had been renovated with two additional classrooms, a certified science lab and a remodeled instructional kitchen in a $4 million project that took six years to complete. The center has also hosted Learning 2 Thrive and a Thrive Center for student parents, reinforcing the campus’s family-inclusive approach.

Hawaii CC took over management of the former North Hawaii Education and Research Center in 2019 and said the goal was to expand capacity for the community. Kō already offers credit courses face-to-face and online, and high school students can participate through Early College. The new first-year pilot turns that access point into something more structured: a local on-ramp to college designed to keep more Big Island students moving toward a credential.