How does transferring to the University of Hawaii from a mainland college work?

Transferring from a mainland college to the University of Hawaiʻi is usually straightforward if you attend a regionally accredited college and leave in good academic standing. In general, UH looks at your college record more than your high school record once you have enough completed college credits, and transfer credit is evaluated course by course rather than as a full block. The biggest factors are whether your courses are college-level, how they match UH requirements, and whether the specific UH campus or major has extra admission standards.

At the system level, the University of Hawaiʻi accepts transfer work from accredited institutions, but not every class will apply the same way. Some courses transfer as direct equivalents, some come in as elective credit, and some may not count if they are remedial, too vocational, or not comparable in content. For general education, UH campuses often review whether a course matches areas like written communication, quantitative reasoning, humanities, or social sciences, so keeping syllabi can be very helpful.

If you apply with only a small number of college credits, the campus may also consider your high school transcript and sometimes test history, but with a stronger college record those usually matter less.

The practical process is to apply to the UH campus you want, send official transcripts from every college attended, and wait for the credit evaluation after admission or during review. If you are planning ahead, compare your mainland college courses to the UH degree requirements for your intended major, especially English, math, lab sciences, and any lower-division prerequisites. That matters because a class can transfer to UH without necessarily fulfilling a major requirement.

If residency and tuition matter for your plan, check Hawaiʻi residency rules separately from transfer admission. Being originally from Hawaiʻi does not automatically mean you will qualify for resident tuition right away after attending school on the mainland, since residency for tuition is based on specific legal and timing rules.