Every UH system campus and the main private options (Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade) are test-optional for the 2026-27 cycle; UH Manoa explicitly applies a 'do no harm' review when a score is submitted. The one place a score still matters directly is UH's own Regents and Presidential Scholars program, which waived its SAT requirement starting with the 2021-22 cycle and now runs on GPA alone, though scholarship pages note some departments or awards may still want a score. Published score ranges describe a cohort; they are not admission cutoffs.
The table covers 5 colleges Hawaii families apply to most, from the most selective to the large public universities. Read each cohort note before comparing numbers. The bottom rows show the score-based money Hawaii families can earn: UH Regents Scholarship.
| School | SAT profile / cohort | ACT | Acceptance rate | Testing, fall 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Hawaii at Manoa | Not published | Not published | 88.0% · fall 2025 (2025-26 CDS) | Test-optional for Fall 2027 (2026-27 cycle): scores not required, 'do no harm' review if submitted (superscored, and a low score is excluded rather than held against the applicant). Some scholarships and direct-entry programs may still want a score. |
| Hawaii Pacific University | Not published | 21-29 | ~84% | Test-optional; SAT/ACT not required, considered if submitted |
| Chaminade University of Honolulu | Not published | 20-23 | ~91% | Test-optional; SAT Essay/ACT Writing explicitly not required |
| University of Hawaii at Hilo | Not published | 15-22 | ~61% | See school |
| University of Hawaii, West Oahu | ~1020 average (no 25th-75th range confirmed) | ~18 average | ~95% | Test-optional; SAT/ACT not required, considered if submitted |
| UH Regents Scholarship | No SAT cutoff (GPA only since 2021-22: 3.8 at UH Manoa, 3.5-3.7 at UH Hilo/West Oahu) | See program rules | Full tuition for 4 years plus a $2,800/semester stipend and a one-time $2,500 travel grant (UH Manoa) over 4 years | Full-time undergraduate tuition both semesters, renewable with a 3.2+ GPA; selected by holistic academic and community-impact review, not a test score |
Cohort notes: UH Manoa: 17,389 applied, 15,297 admitted. HPU: Hawaii's largest private university; the vast majority of admits do not submit any test score. Chaminade: A small Catholic university in Honolulu; open admission profile with most applicants accepted. UH Hilo: The UH system's second-largest campus, on the Big Island. UH West Oahu: An open-access UH campus on Oahu; most applicants are admitted. These are not interchangeable measures.
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Find my teen's target scoreUH Manoa does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted 88.0% of 17,389 applicants (fall 2025 (2025-26 CDS)). Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional for Fall 2027 (2026-27 cycle): scores not required, 'do no harm' review if submitted (superscored, and a low score is excluded rather than held against the applicant). Some scholarships and direct-entry programs may still want a score. 17,389 applied, 15,297 admitted.
HPU does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted ~84% (latest cycle). The matching ACT range is 21-29. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional; SAT/ACT not required, considered if submitted. Hawaii's largest private university; the vast majority of admits do not submit any test score.
Chaminade does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted ~91% (latest cycle). The matching ACT range is 20-23. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional; SAT Essay/ACT Writing explicitly not required. A small Catholic university in Honolulu; open admission profile with most applicants accepted.
UH Hilo does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted ~61% (latest cycle). The matching ACT range is 15-22. The UH system's second-largest campus, on the Big Island.
UH West Oahu does not publish a composite SAT range for its latest class. It admitted ~95% (latest cycle). The matching ACT range is ~18 average. Testing for fall 2027: Test-optional; SAT/ACT not required, considered if submitted. An open-access UH campus on Oahu; most applicants are admitted.
Hawaii has no statewide SAT-cutoff scholarship; the state's signature merit award, the UH Regents Scholarship, dropped its SAT requirement in the 2021-22 cycle and now runs on GPA alone, so score-tied money in Hawaii is thin and largely confined to whichever private school scholarship still references a test score.
UH Regents Scholarship: No SAT cutoff (GPA only since 2021-22: 3.8 at UH Manoa, 3.5-3.7 at UH Hilo/West Oahu). Full-time undergraduate tuition both semesters, renewable with a 3.2+ GPA; selected by holistic academic and community-impact review, not a test score.
Both UH system awards above are selected through holistic review rather than a published SAT-score cutoff; GPA is the only hard number stated publicly. Confirm whether any current scholarship cycle (2026-27 and beyond) has reintroduced a test-score option, since the 'waived for 2021-22' language is COVID-era and its current status should be rechecked.
UH Manoa, HPU, Chaminade and UH West Oahu are test optional for fall 2027, so many families assume the score is irrelevant. The ranges above come from the students who chose to send one, and they sit well above the overall class. A strong score is one more reason for a school to say yes, and a weak one can simply stay home.
No. UH waived the SAT requirement for the Regents Scholarship starting with the 2021-22 cycle; eligibility now runs on GPA alone, 3.8 at UH Manoa and 3.5 to 3.7 at UH Hilo and UH West Oahu.
No. UH Manoa is test-optional for the 2026-27 cycle. If a student submits a score, UH Manoa superscores it and applies a 'do no harm' review, meaning a weak score is excluded rather than counted against the application.
Yes, but it is the ACT, not the SAT. Hawaii's public schools administer the ACT with Writing free to all 11th graders as part of required statewide testing. A family that wants an SAT score instead needs to register and test outside of school.
Hawaii Pacific does not require one; it is test-optional. Among the small share of admits (about 13%) who do submit a score, the reported range runs roughly 1068 to 1280.
Yes, but the field is small: the five-campus University of Hawaii system (Manoa, Hilo, West Oahu) plus two private universities (Hawaii Pacific, Chaminade) cover nearly all in-state four-year options, which is why many ambitious Hawaii students also apply to West Coast mainland schools.
No. A middle 50% describes the central half of the reported group, not an admission cutoff. Some rows describe enrolled students or score submitters only, as labeled. A position within a range does not guarantee admission or merit aid.
University and state sources: UH Manoa, HPU, Chaminade, UH Hilo, UH West Oahu, UH Regents Scholarship. Reviewed October 9, 2026. Cohorts and entry terms differ; confirm current requirements with each admissions office.
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