Eighteen Waialaua High School freshmen are among the first to sign a pledge to take part in the newly launched Step Up Campaign. They will be required to take advanced courses in math, science, and writing.
If they succeed, they will graduate with the Board of Education Step Up diploma and should be more prepared for college.
Students will have to make sacrifices.
"Probably TV time and games and computers and yeah I'm gonna have to study hard if I'm gonna get this BOE diploma,” said Joshua Labajo.
"Family time cause usually when I go home I do my homework and I hang out with them but then I think it wouldn't be that much of a sacrifice because they know what I want to do,” said Raquelle Grilho.
A report by the Hawaii P-20 Initiative, which is behind the Step Up Campaign, shows that only 50 percent of public high school graduates go to college.
The goal of the new campaign is to have 75 percent of incoming ninth graders sign up.
Education officials say there are plenty of incentives.
"Just think about this statistic, college graduates earn on the average one million more dollars in the course of their lifetime compared to those who are high school graduates,” said M.R.C. Greenwood, president of the University of Hawaii.
"I'll help my parents in their financial needs, since my dad passed away four months ago so we're kind of poor right now. So I want to help my mom,” said Labajo.
Another major obstacle is being able to afford the tuition.
The Step Up campaign is designed to help with that also.
"With a Step Up diploma, more scholarship opportunities will be open for the students so it really is a win win for everyone,” said schools superintendent, Patricia Hamamoto.
Education officials admit that college is not for everyone, but students should be well prepared if they choose to enroll.
