Tuition waivers good, maybe OHA can help

Member of the University of Hawai`i Center for Hawaiian Studies are asking the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to refuse settlement with the state until the entire university system agrees to grant tuition waivers to all 1,300 Native Hawaiian students.

But since UH has been granted autonomy in these matters, the Center for Hawaiian Studies may be barking up the wrong tree. OHA is right to respond with reluctance in the matter.

Although the issue has not yet come before the Board of Regents formally, Regent John A. Hoag expressed concern about how we could do it without hurting other students.

Perhaps a portion of the $450 million to $1.2 billion due to OHA could be applied toward scholarships for the Native Hawaiian students.

This would bypass the autonomous UH system, which already reserves 250 tuition waivers each academic year.