| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Type | Public two-year college in the University of Hawaiʻi System; in-person, hybrid and online classes |
| Campus | 1, at 4303 Diamond Head Rd, Honolulu; some nursing cohorts taught at the Leeward Community College site |
| Credentials | Associate degrees (AS, AA), Certificates of Achievement and of Competence, Advanced Professional Certificates, non-credit certificates |
| Typical length | Non-credit certificates of a few weeks to 11 months; associate degrees of two years or more |
| Accreditation | ACCJC; reaffirmed 3 February 2026 for 18 months, with a follow-up report due 1 March 2027 |
| Federal aid | Yes (FAFSA school code 001613) |
| 2026-27 tuition | $131 per credit (Hawaiʻi residents), $345 (non-residents), $196.50 (Pacific Island Jurisdiction residents) |
| Students | 5,704 in fall 2025 |
| Founded | 1946, as the Kapiʻolani Technical School; part of the University of Hawaiʻi since 1965 |
| Facts checked | October 2026 |
Kapiʻolani CC: a University of Hawaiʻi college at Diamond Head
Kapiʻolani Community College (Kapiʻolani CC) is one of the seven community colleges in the University of Hawaiʻi System. It opened in 1946 as the Kapiʻolani Technical School on Pensacola Street, joined the University of Hawaiʻi in 1965, took its current name in 1966. It has since moved from Pensacola Street to its campus at Diamond Head in Honolulu. Fall 2025 enrollment was 5,704, down 3.6% on a year earlier, while the UH community colleges as a whole grew 2.2%. Besides transfer degrees, the college runs a large group of health programs, culinary arts through its Culinary Institute of the Pacific, hospitality, paralegal, accounting and IT. Its accreditor, ACCJC, reaffirmed it in February 2026 for 18 months rather than a full term and found it out of compliance on “regular, substantive, and effective interaction” in its distance-education courses.
Career programs at Kapiʻolani CC
The table lists the main career programs. Credit programs are charged per credit (2026-27 resident rate shown); the non-credit health programs have a single published price. We found no published whole-program totals for credit programs.
| Program | Credential | Length / entry | Delivery | Prepares for | 2026-27 cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Nursing | AS in Nursing, 72–73 credits | Prerequisites at least 3 terms; fall and spring entry | Diamond Head or Leeward CC site; weekday clinicals | NCLEX-RN (ACEN-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Practical Nursing | Certificate of Achievement, 44–46 credits | Prerequisites 2–3 semesters; applications in fall (Leeward CC site) or spring (Diamond Head) | In person | NCLEX-PN (Hawaiʻi Board of Nursing approved) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Nurse Aide | Non-credit, or 6-credit certificate | 150 hours; credit version 8 weeks | Hybrid, or face to face (credit version) | State nurse-aide certification test | Credit version: $131 / credit (resident) |
| EMT | Certificate of Competence, 15.6 credits | – | In person | NREMT, Hawaiʻi licensure | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Paramedic (MICT) | AS, 73.93–77.93 credits; CA, 67.93–71.93 | 12 months, 1,639 hours (college FAQ) | In person | NREMT (CAAHEP-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Medical Assisting | AS, 72–73 credits; CA, 33 | – | In person | CMA (AAMA) (CAAHEP-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Medical Laboratory Technician | AS, 70–73 credits | Spring entry only | In person | ASCP BOC MLT (NAACLS-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Occupational Therapy Assistant | AS, 76 credits | 6 terms, including summers | In person | NBCOT COTA (ACOTE-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Physical Therapist Assistant | AS, 72–73 credits | – | In person | NPTE-PTA (CAPTE-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Radiologic Technology | AS, 85–89 credits | 2 years; fall entry; full-time only | In person; weekday clinicals | ARRT (JRCERT-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Respiratory Care Practitioner | AS, 95–96 credits | 29 credits of liberal arts first | In person | National credentialing exams (CoARC-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Dental Assisting | CA, 28 credits; CO, 15 credits | CA 2 semesters; CO 1 semester (fall, days) | In person | DANB CDA (CA only; CODA-accredited) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Massage Therapy | Non-credit certificate | 603 hours, about 11 months | Evenings and Saturdays | Hawaiʻi State Board of Massage exam, MBLEx | $7,370 |
| Pharmacy Technician | Non-credit certificate | 240 hours | Online course, then in-person externship | PTCB (CPhT) | $2,000 + $15 insurance |
| Phlebotomy | Non-credit certificate | 64 classroom + 100 clinical hours | Evenings and Saturdays, then daytime clinicals | ASCP (NAACLS-approved) | $2,000 |
| Paralegal (Legal Studies) | AS, 60–62 credits; CA, 27 (bachelor’s degree required) | AS includes a 120-hour internship | In person or fully online | ABA-approved | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Accounting | AS, 60–65 credits; CA, 30–34; two short certificates | – | Day, evening and online courses | ACBSP-accredited | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Information Technology | AS, 60–62 credits; CAs and short certificates; 18-credit APC | 8- or 16-week sessions | – | – | $131 / credit (resident); $318 at 300 level |
| Culinary Arts | AS, 60–63 credits (3 specializations); CA, 39–44; short certificates | – | In person (Culinary Institute of the Pacific) | ACF certification (optional) | $131 / credit (resident) |
| Hospitality & Tourism | AS ×2, 62–67 credits; CAs; short certificates; 18-credit APC | – | In person | – | $131 / credit (resident) |
Programmatic accreditation, as the college lists it: ACEN for the AS in Nursing, CAAHEP for Paramedic and Medical Assisting, NAACLS for Medical Laboratory Technician (and approval for Phlebotomy), ACOTE for Occupational Therapy Assistant, CAPTE for Physical Therapist Assistant, JRCERT for Radiologic Technology, CoARC for Respiratory Care, CODA for the Dental Assisting Certificate of Achievement, the ABA for Paralegal and ACBSP for Accounting. Practical Nursing is approved by the Hawaiʻi Board of Nursing.
The college also offers a 48-credit Diagnostic Medical Sonography certificate, with an AS pending. The college states that the program is not accredited by CAAHEP, that eligibility for the ARRT sonography exam is still awaiting approval, and that its outcomes are pending.
What the main programs cover
Registered Nursing (AS in Nursing)
Students first complete prerequisites that take at least three terms, then apply in one of two windows: 1 December to 1 February for fall entry, or 1 June to 1 September for spring. The application needs the ATI-TEAS, a 2.5 GPA in prerequisites and letters showing direct patient care, and each semester about 175–200 or more applicants compete for 18–24 places. Clinicals are on weekdays, from 6:30 am to 5:30 pm. Licensed practical nurses can take a separate Bridge for LPNs route to the same degree. Graduates can enter year 4 of the BSN at UH Mānoa or UH Hilo.
Practical Nursing
The Certificate of Achievement is 44–46 credits, and its prerequisites take two to three semesters. The college runs cohorts on two sites: the Leeward Community College site accepts applications from 1 October to 15 December, and the Diamond Head campus from 1 April to 15 May. Like the other selective health programs, it admits on a best-qualified basis and asks for a Health Careers information session within a year of applying. Completion within four terms ranged from 78% to 100% across the four cohorts from 2021 to 2023.
Paramedic (Mobile Intensive Care Technician)
Applicants must already hold EMT certification; the college’s own 15.6-credit EMT certificate prepares students for the NREMT exam and Hawaiʻi licensure. The paramedic program can end in an AS of 73.93–77.93 credits or a Certificate of Achievement of 67.93–71.93 credits; the college’s FAQ describes the training as 12 months and 1,639 hours, though the program page gives a different credit figure elsewhere. Students prepare for the NREMT exam. Retention has varied from 68% (2025) to 88% (2023), and the program reports 100% placement in every year from 2017 to 2025.
Radiologic Technology
The AS is 85–89 credits over two years and must be taken full time, starting each fall. Applicants need a HESI A2 score of 75 or more in each of five sections. Clinical placements run on weekdays between 6 am and 6 pm, so the program is hard to combine with a daytime job. Graduates take the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists exam, which the Hawaiʻi licensing board accepts. The college plans cohorts on Hawaiʻi Island and Maui from Fall 2028.
Paralegal (Legal Studies)
There are two routes. The 60–62-credit AS is open to any admitted student and includes a 120-hour internship. The 27-credit Certificate of Achievement, first offered in fall 2017, is only for students who already have a bachelor’s degree. Both can be finished entirely online, but at least 9 credits must be taken in live, scheduled online classes. The program has held ABA approval without a break since 1978.
Non-credit Pharmacy Technician and Phlebotomy
Both are short, fixed-price courses outside the credit system. Pharmacy Technician starts with 120 hours of online Foundations classes on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings, then a 120-hour externship at a partner pharmacy, which students attend in person. Phlebotomy has 64 classroom hours on Thursday and Friday evenings and Saturdays, then a 100-hour daytime clinical internship over about two and a half weeks, which daytime workers need to plan around. Each ends with a Certificate of Competence and a national exam (PTCB or ASCP).
Tuition, fees and how students pay
University of Hawaiʻi tuition for 2026-27 is charged per credit, with three residency tiers. From Fall 2026 the college also charges a higher rate for 300-level courses, such as those in the IT Advanced Professional Certificate.
| 2026-27 tuition per credit | 100–200-level courses | 300-level courses (from Fall 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaiʻi resident | $131 | $318 |
| Non-resident | $345 | $858 |
| Non-resident, Pacific Island Jurisdiction | $196.50 | $477 |
Mandatory fees are a Student Activity fee ($2 per credit, up to $20), a Student Congress fee ($0.50 per credit, up to $5), a $10 publication fee and a $40 U-Pass transit fee, so no more than $75 a semester; from Fall 2026 the per-credit fees count at most 10 credits. By our calculation, a Hawaiʻi resident taking 15 credits a semester pays $1,965 in tuition plus up to $75 in fees, or about $4,080 a year. Non-credit programs are priced separately: Massage Therapy $7,370, Pharmacy Technician $2,000 plus $15 insurance and Phlebotomy $2,000. Niche, using federal data, puts the average net price at $6,034 a year (checked October 2026), and the college has a net price calculator.
Kapiʻolani CC takes federal student aid (FAFSA school code 001613; priority date 1 March), including Pell and SEOG grants, Federal Work-Study and loans. It also lists the State of Hawaiʻi B Plus Scholarship, the Hawaiʻi Promise Scholarship, the Kapiʻolani Opportunity Grant and the Native Hawaiian Tuition Waiver. Admitted nursing students can add UH tuition waivers and private nursing scholarships.
Open admission, selective health programs
Anyone who meets the college’s entry guidelines can enroll, but the health programs choose students on a best-qualified basis. They ask for a Kapiʻolani GPA of 2.0 or more and a Health Careers information session within a year of applying, and give priority to Hawaiʻi residents. Some add their own requirements: the ATI-TEAS for nursing, the HESI A2 for Radiologic Technology, EMT certification for Paramedic and a bachelor’s degree for the Paralegal certificate.
Entry terms differ: Radiologic Technology and Sonography start only in fall, Medical Laboratory Technician only in spring, and nursing twice a year. Classes are offered in person, hybrid and online; Paralegal can be completed fully online, Accounting has day, evening and online sections, and IT courses run in 8- or 16-week sessions.
Accreditation and results
Kapiʻolani CC is accredited by ACCJC. On 3 February 2026 ACCJC reaffirmed its accreditation for 18 months only and found the college out of compliance with Standard II.A.7 (College Requirement 1), which requires “regular, substantive, and effective interaction” in distance-education courses. The college must submit a follow-up report by 1 March 2027, followed by a visit from a peer review team. This is the second accreditation cycle in a row to end in an 18-month term: the January 2019 action was also an 18-month reaffirmation, with two compliance recommendations that the college resolved in its 2020 follow-up.
The college and its programs publish these results:
| Program and measure | Result | Period and source |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nursing, first-time NCLEX-RN pass rate (traditional and LPN-bridge students combined) | 95% · 94% · 95% | 2021 · 2022 · 2023, college ADN outcomes report |
| Practical Nursing, first-time NCLEX-PN pass rate | 87% to 100% per cohort (four cohorts) | 2021–2023, college PN outcomes report |
| Paramedic, first-attempt NREMT or state written exam | 93% to 100% a year (93% in 2025) | 2021–2025, program page |
| Medical Laboratory Technician, ASCP exam within a year | 100% (6 of 6) · 92% (11 of 12) · 87% (13 of 15) | 2023 · 2024 · 2025, program page |
| Occupational Therapy Assistant, NBCOT first-time pass rate | 50% to 70% a year (2022–2025); 70% (24 of 34) over 2021–2025 | 2021–2025, program page |
| Culinary Arts AS, ACF certification rate | 0% | 2020–2022, college’s ACF Education Foundation data |
| Culinary Arts AS, graduation within 150% of normal time | 18.64% · 19.40% · 20.41% | 2020 · 2021 · 2022, same data |
| Whole college, graduation rate (federal 150%-of-time measure) | 28% | Federal data as shown on Niche, October 2026 |
The OTA, MLT and practical nursing results come from small groups, some of fewer than ten candidates, so one or two results move the rate a lot. Radiologic Technology, Physical Therapist Assistant and Respiratory Care outcomes are published separately and are not summarized here. The EMT, Dental Assisting, Phlebotomy, Pharmacy Technician, Massage Therapy and nurse aide pages publish no pass rates.
Before you enroll
- ACCJC’s February 2026 finding concerns the college’s online courses. If you plan to study online, ask how your courses provide regular contact with instructors, and follow the outcome of the follow-up report due 1 March 2027.
- Getting into a health program is a separate, competitive step. The RN program takes 18–24 students each semester from about 175–200 or more applications, after prerequisites of at least three terms.
- The Diagnostic Medical Sonography certificate is not CAAHEP-accredited, and the college says ARRT exam eligibility for graduates is still awaiting approval.
- Occupational Therapy Assistant graduates passed the NBCOT exam on the first try at rates of 50% to 70% each year from 2022 to 2025, from small groups.
- Culinary Arts’ own published data show a 0% ACF certification rate and 19–20% of AS students graduating within 150% of normal time (2020–2022), so ACF certification is an option, not something most students leave with.
One campus at Diamond Head, plus a nursing site at Leeward CC
All programs are taught at the Diamond Head campus, 4303 Diamond Head Rd, Honolulu, HI 96816, including the Culinary Institute of the Pacific, which is part of the campus rather than a separate site. Kapiʻolani RN and practical nursing cohorts are also taught at the Leeward Community College site; Leeward is a separate UH college, but students in those cohorts are in Kapiʻolani’s programs.
Clinicals, internships and transfer routes
Work experience is built into many programs: hospital clinicals in the nursing and allied-health programs, the 120-hour paralegal internship, the 120-hour pharmacy externship and the 100-hour phlebotomy clinical internship. Several programs lead on to bachelor’s degrees in the UH System: RN graduates can enter year 4 of the BSN at UH Mānoa or UH Hilo, and the IT and Hospitality Advanced Professional Certificates lead to BAS degrees at UH West Oʻahu.
What students say
On Niche, Kapiʻolani Community College is rated 3.87 out of 5 from 482 reviews, with an overall grade of A− (checked 12 October 2026). Reviewers most often praise supportive, approachable faculty and small classes, the scenic campus, and low cost with an easy route to transfer. The most common complaints are a limited student life on a commuter campus, too little weekend tutoring for working students, and early-college high school students feeling disconnected and short of information about resources. The reviews cover the whole college, where most students study part time, so they say little about any single career program, and we could not tell whether any were invited by the school.
Sources
Checked October 2026: College history · Programs by pathway · Tuition and fees 2026-27 · Accreditation · ACCJC action letter, 3 February 2026 · ADN program outcomes · UH fall 2025 enrollment · Niche
Programs & Courses
Nursing
- Registered Nursing (AS in Nursing, ADN)
- Nursing: Bridge for LPNs (AS)
- Practical Nursing (Certificate of Achievement)
- Nurse Aide (CNA), credit and non-credit
Emergency Medical Services
- Emergency Medical Technician (EMT)
- Mobile Intensive Care Technician (Paramedic)
Health Sciences
- Medical Assisting
- Healthcare Practice Management (certificate)
- Medical Laboratory Technician
- Occupational Therapy Assistant
- Physical Therapist Assistant
- Radiologic Technology
- Respiratory Care Practitioner
- Dental Assisting
- Community Health Worker (certificate)
- Diagnostic Medical Sonography certificate (not yet programmatically accredited)
Non-credit health training
- Massage Therapy
- Pharmacy Technician
- Phlebotomy
Business and Legal
- Accounting
- Legal Studies (Paralegal)
- Entrepreneurship (9-credit certificate)
- Management (certificate)
Information Technology
- Information Technology (AS and Advanced Professional Certificate)
- Information Security & Assurance
- Data Science (certificate)
- Help Desk (certificate)
- Programming (certificate)
Culinary (Culinary Institute of the Pacific)
- Culinary Arts
- Pastry Arts
- Institutional Food Service Management
Hospitality & Tourism
- Hospitality Operations Management
- Travel & Tourism Operations Management
- Sustainable Tourism (certificate)
Campus Locations
Honolulu, HI 4303 Diamond Head Rd, Honolulu, HI 96816