{"id":231976,"date":"2026-04-09T11:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=231976"},"modified":"2026-04-09T11:07:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T21:07:02","slug":"lumina-foundation-direct2uh-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2026\/04\/09\/lumina-foundation-direct2uh-grant\/","title":{"rendered":"National grant funds Direct2<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> initiative to simplify college path for students"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 2<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_94618\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QBS6zKirfbY?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Direct2UH\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The University of <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> has been selected as one of 10 recipients of a national grant from Lumina Foundation&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.luminafoundation.org\/admissions-redesign\/\">Great Admissions Redesign initiative<\/a> to expand its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/direct2uh\/\">Direct2<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> program<\/a>. The $400,000 grant is part of the foundation&#8217;s $3.5 million investment to simplify the college admissions process and expand student access across the country.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_231989\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-231989\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/system-direct2uh-family-acceptance-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"family surrounds student accepted to UH\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-231989\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/system-direct2uh-family-acceptance-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/system-direct2uh-family-acceptance-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/system-direct2uh-family-acceptance.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-231989\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Family celebrates as student learns she&#8217;s accepted to <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Building on the success of Direct2<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr>&#8212;the direct admissions initiative <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/10\/13\/direct2uh-streamlines-admission-to-uh\/\">launched in October 2025<\/a>, offering free entry to public high school seniors based on their <abbr>GPA<\/abbr>&#8212;the grant will fund a unified admissions system with enhanced outreach and guidance. This creates a more equitable pathway for <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> students to apply, access financial aid and enroll across nine campuses, with <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> M\u0101noa expected to join the program later this year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This investment allows us to build a simpler, more connected pathway to college for <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span>&#8216;s students&#8212;one that ensures every learner, regardless of background or geography, has clear and supported opportunities, making it easier for more students to move from aspiration to enrollment and ultimately to success,&rdquo; said Farrah-Marie Gomes, <abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> associate vice president for student affairs. &ldquo;This work matters locally because it directly addresses the barriers our students face and strengthens our responsibility as a statewide system to serve every community.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Lumina&#8217;s Great Admissions Redesign initiative supports states, systems and institutions in integrating admissions, financial aid, advising and enrollment systems. The goal is to remove unnecessary barriers and help more students successfully enroll in and complete college.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Across the country, we&#8217;re seeing real momentum to rethink how students access college,&rdquo; said Melanie Heath, Lumina strategy director. &ldquo;This cohort reflects a clear shift from fragmented fixes to coordinated, student-centered systems.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Commitment to college access<\/h2>\n<p>At full scale, Direct2<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> will reach students at all public and charter high schools across the state, with implementation in partnership with the <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> State Department of Education and <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai&#699;i<\/span> P&#8211;20. By aligning systems and expanding support, it will increase college access and enrollment statewide, particularly for rural and underserved communities.<\/p>\n<p>Lumina&#8217;s Great Admissions Redesign initiative is part of a broader national effort to increase post-high school attainment and advance Lumina&#8217;s Goal 2040, which aims for 75 percent of working-age adults to hold a credential of value.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manoa-student-group-baker-tree.jpg\" alt=\"group of four students\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-231994\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manoa-student-group-baker-tree.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manoa-student-group-baker-tree-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/manoa-student-group-baker-tree-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>University of <span lang=\"haw\">Hawai\u02bbi<\/span> expands Direct2<abbr>东精影业<\/abbr> program with national grant to simplify college admissions and access.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":231989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,12],"tags":[757,962,678,61,306,62,63,64,65,14,9,60,947,59,56],"class_list":["post-231976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","category-video","tag-admissions","tag-enrollment","tag-financial-aid","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-hawaii-p-20","tag-honolulu-community-college","tag-kapiolani-community-college","tag-kauai-community-college","tag-leeward-community-college","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-manoa","tag-maui-college","tag-uh-system","tag-uh-west-oahu","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/system-direct2uh-family-acceptance.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231976"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232003,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231976\/revisions\/232003"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}