RELATING TO TEACHER EDUCATION.

Education

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: WOODSON, AMATO, COCHRAN, GRANDINETTI, KILA, KUSCH, LAMOSAO, LOWEN, MARTEN, MATAYOSHI, MIYAKE, MORIKAWA, PERRUSO, POEPOE, REYES ODA, SOUZA, TAM, TARNAS
Last action: 2026-04-17
Official status: Re-Referred to EDU, WAM.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill specifically mentions the College of Education at UH Manoa, not all four-year UH campuses.

Tuition Help for Teacher Training

This bill allows the Board of Regents to waive all tuition and mandatory fees for Hawaii residents enrolled in a teacher education program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

What This Bill Does

Allows the Board of Regents to grant a waiver on all tuition and mandatory fees for resident students pursuing an education degree at the College of Education, UH Manoa.
Requires that these students must be full-time, in good academic standing, enrolled in a state-approved teacher education program, and completing student teaching hours.

Who It Names or Affects

Hawaii residents who want to become teachers
University of Hawaii at Manoa

Terms To Know

Resident Student: A student who lives in the state and meets certain residency requirements.
State-Approved Teacher Education Program: An official program that prepares students to become teachers, approved by the state.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill only applies to resident students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
It is not clear how much money will be available for this waiver or what conditions might limit its use.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment requires the Board of Regents to provide a tuition waiver for resident students enrolled in state-approved teacher education programs at four-year University of Hawaii campuses.

Adds a new section to Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requiring the Board of Regents to grant a full tuition and mandatory fee waiver to eligible resident students pursuing an education degree.

The amendment specifies that it will take effect on July 1, 3000, which seems unusual and may indicate a placeholder date or error in the text.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: This amendment allows the Department of Education to pay for all tuition and mandatory fees for Hawaii residents who are full-time students in a teacher education program at a University of Hawaii campus, if they agree to teach in public schools after graduation.

The Department of Education can now subsidize tuition and mandatory fees for resident students enrolled in state-approved teacher education programs at the University of Hawaii.
Students must be full-time, in good academic standing, and committed to teaching in public schools after they get their license.

The exact number of years a student must teach is not specified in the provided text.

SD1_PROPOSED

Hawaii published version SD1_PROPOSED

Plain English: This amendment allows the Department of Education to pay all tuition and mandatory fees for Hawaii residents who are full-time students in a state-approved teacher education program at a four-year college campus of the University of Hawaii.

The Department of Education can now subsidize all tuition and mandatory fees for resident students enrolled in a state-approved teacher education program at a four-year college campus of the University of Hawaii.

The amendment specifies that this subsidy applies only to full-time students who are in good academic standing, but it does not provide details on how 'good academic standing' is defined.
It's unclear why the effective date is set for July 1, 3000, which seems far into the future and may be a typographical error.

SD2

Hawaii published version SD2

Plain English: This amendment allows the Department of Education to pay for all tuition and mandatory fees for Hawaii residents who are full-time students in a state-approved teacher education program, if they agree to teach at public schools after graduation.

The Department of Education can now subsidize tuition and mandatory fees for resident students enrolled in a state-approved teacher education program.
Students must commit to teaching for five years at a public school after receiving their license.

The exact rules on how this subsidy will be implemented are not detailed, as the department is instructed to create these rules later.

Bill History

2026-04-17 S
Re-Referred to EDU, WAM.
2026-04-02 S
Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
2026-04-01 H
House Conferee(s) discharged.
2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-04-15 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 732).
2025-04-14 H
House Conferees Appointed: Garrett, Woodson, Holt Co-Chairs; Amato, Muraoka.
2025-04-14 H
Re-referred to HED/EDN, FIN, referral sheet 31
2025-04-10 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 621).
2025-04-08 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2025-04-04 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 586) in amended form (SD 2).
2025-04-04 S
Report Adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2025-04-02 S
48 Hrs. Notice 04-04-25.
2025-04-02 S
Reported from WAM (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1533) with recommendation of passage on Third Reading, as amended (SD 2).
2025-03-31 S
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
2025-03-28 S
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 03-31-25 10:02AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
2025-03-20 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to WAM.
2025-03-20 S
Reported from HRE (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1203) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
2025-03-13 S
The committee(s) on HRE recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in HRE were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kim, Kidani, Hashimoto; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 2 Excused: Senator(s) Fukunaga, Fevella.
2025-03-10 S
The committee(s) on HRE has scheduled a public hearing on 03-13-25 3:05PM; CR 229 & Videoconference (Proposed Draft).
2025-03-04 S
Referred to HRE, WAM.
2025-03-04 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-03-04 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 165).
2025-02-28 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-02-28 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 920), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2025-02-21 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 12 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Miyake, Templo, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 4 Excused: Representative(s) Lee, M., Morikawa, Alcos, Ward.
2025-02-19 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Friday, 02-21-25 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-02-12 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with Representative(s) Shimizu voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Garcia, Muraoka, Pierick voting no (3) and Representative(s) Cochran, Sayama, Ward excused (3).
2025-02-12 H
Reported from HED (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 437) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
2025-02-07 H
The committee on HED recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Garrett, Amato, Kapela, Kila, La Chica, Olds, Sayama, Woodson, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Evslin, Muraoka.
2025-02-04 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by HED on Friday, 02-07-25 2:00PM in University of Hawaii at Manoa, Bachman Hall, Board of Regents Conference Room 106, 2444 Dole Street VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-01-27 H
Referred to HED, FIN, referral sheet 4
2025-01-23 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO TEACHER EDUCATION.
DOE; UH; Four-year College; Tuition Subsidy; Mandatory Fee Subsidy; State-Approved Teacher Education Program; Teacher Education; Resident Student; Service Requirement
Authorizes the Department of Education to subsidize all tuition and mandatory fees for a resident student enrolled in a 4-year college campus of the University of Hawaii System with an education program or that offers an education degree for the semester or term that the student enrolls in a State-Approved Teacher Education Program under certain conditions. Effective 7/31/2050. (SD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB1345

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1345

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to teacher education
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION 1.
�
The legislature finds that requiring the
board of regents to grant a tuition waiver to a resident student pursuing a
degree in education for the semester or term that the student enrolls in a
state-approved teacher education program is a matter of statewide concern
pursuant to article X, section 6, of the Hawaii State Constitution.

����
SECTION
2.
�
Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to subpart B of part IV to be
appropriately designated and to read as follows:

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"
�304A-
�
Tuition waiver; student teaching hours;
resident students.
�
(a)
�
The board of regents shall grant a waiver on
all tuition and mandatory fees for a resident student enrolled in the college
of education at the university of Hawaii at Manoa for the semester or term that
the resident student chooses to complete the student teaching requirement
necessary to earn a degree in education; provided that the student is:

����
(1)
�
Enrolled as a full-time student in
good academic standing in the college of education at the university of Hawaii
at Manoa;

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(2)
�
Enrolled in a degree program that:

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(A)
�
Results in a degree in education;
and

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(B)
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Requires the completion of student
teaching hours; and

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(3)
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Currently enrolled in a state-approved
teacher education program.

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(b)
�
The university shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 necessary to implement this section.
"

����
SECTION
2.
�
New statutory material is
underscored.

����
SECTION
3.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

UH; BOR;
College of Education; Tuition Waiver; Mandatory Fee Waiver; State-Approved
Teacher Education Program; Teacher Education; Resident Student

Description:

Requires
the Board of Regents to grant a waiver on all tuition and mandatory fees to a
resident student enrolled in the College of Education at the University of
Hawaii at Manoa for the semester or term that the student enrolls in a State-Approved
Teacher Education Program.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.