Hawaii · high school · 2026-2027 school year
Hawaii homeschool graduation requirements, diploma, and transcript
Trellis has no step-by-step law page for Hawaii yet. The state's own statute and agency sources at the end of this page are the primary references.
Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) credit requirements apply only to public-school students. A DOE-issued diploma requires 3 full years of public high school attendance, so homeschool families almost always write their own parent-issued diploma instead.
The short version
- Who sets the requirement: Hawaii Department of Education (DOE) credit requirements apply only to public-school students. A DOE-issued diploma requires 3 full years of public high school attendance, so homeschool families almost always write their own parent-issued diploma instead.
- The reference standard: the public-school minimum is 24 credits, and that table is the common starting point a transcript is read against; colleges set their own expectations on top of it, below.
- What colleges actually look for: the universities in the table below publish their own course expectations.
- What a transcript must show: courses by year, credits, and grades, kept by the parent, with the same subject headings the reference table uses.
- Across states: compare what 51 flagship universities ask.
The public-school credit table, for reference
Hawaii's public-school diploma requires 24 credits. A homeschool is not held to it. It is shown as the reference a transcript is commonly read against. A recruited athlete also registers with the NCAA Eligibility Center, which grades home-school core courses against its own worksheet, separate from this table.
| Subject | Credits | What that means |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | English Language Arts 1; English Language Arts 2; Expository Writing (0.5). |
| Math | 3 | Algebra 1; Geometry; one math elective. |
| Science | 3 | Biology 1; two science electives. |
| Social studies | 4 | U.S. History; World History; Modern Hawaiʻi History; Participation in Democracy. Full titles: U.S. History and Government (1), World History and Culture (1), Modern History of Hawaiʻi (0.5), Participation in a Democracy (0.5), plus a social studies elective (1). |
| Foreign language | 0 | Not separately required; may be used to satisfy the 2-credit World Language/Fine Arts/career and technical education (CTE) choice under "other". |
| PE and health | 1.5 | Lifetime Fitness (0.5) + PE elective (0.5); Health Today and Tomorrow (0.5). |
| Arts | 0 | Not separately required; may be used to satisfy the 2-credit World Language/Fine Arts/CTE choice under "other". |
| Electives | 6 | |
| Other | 2.5 | 2 credits in World Language OR Fine Arts OR Career & Technical Education/JROTC (student picks one pathway, taken in sequence); Personal Transition Plan (0.5). World Language and CTE/JROTC credits must be taken in sequence; Fine Arts credits need not be in a single discipline. |
Assessments in the public-school rules: none confirmed — no statewide graduation exam found in DOE materials; Smarter Balanced assessments are used for school accountability, not as a diploma gate.
What Hawaii colleges ask a homeschooled applicant for
Hawaii sets no homeschool graduation requirements; families write their own diploma, often mirroring DOE credit categories for admissions credibility. The 2-credit World Language/Fine Arts/CTE line is one choice, not three stacked requirements. No graduation exam is required.
Years of each subject. 0 means the university lists no requirement in that subject; a dash means it publishes no figure for it.
flagship University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | – |
| Math | 3 | – |
| Science | 3 | – |
| Social studies | 3 | – |
| Foreign language | 0 | – |
| Arts | – | – |
4 units of other college-prep coursework (a 4th unit of math/science/social science; foreign language also counts here)
Math must include Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II. Source presents one required pattern; no separate recommended tier is published. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa requirements (source), checked 2026-09-01.
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo
| Subject | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| English | 4 | – |
| Math | 3 | – |
| Science | 3 | – |
| Social studies | – | – |
| Foreign language | – | – |
| Arts | – | – |
7 units of college-prep electives (social studies, language, and additional math/science bundled together)
17 college-prep units total; requires 2.7 academic GPA or ACT/SAT on a sliding scale. Math must include Algebra II. University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo requirements (source), checked 2026-09-01.
Questions families ask
Does Hawaii require a homeschool diploma?
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How many credits does a Hawaii homeschool diploma need?
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Who signs a homeschool transcript in Hawaii?
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What does University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa expect from a homeschooled applicant?
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How Trellis checks your transcript against this table
In Trellis, the courses you plan and the work your children check off become the transcript as you go. The graduation card reads that transcript against the table above and says, subject by subject, what is earned and what is still open, and it notices a course filed under the wrong heading before a college does. Nothing is retyped at the end of senior year.
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