RELATING TO THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII.
HB2158 requires the University of Hawaii system to develop and maintain a publicly accessible, systemwide online dashboard focused on program-level transparency. The dashboard is intended primarily for students and families and must provide clear, comparable information to help them evaluate academic programs, including cost of attendance, time to completion, retention and completion rates, and post-graduation outcomes such as employment, earnings, and further education. The bill also allows the university to include additional program-level metrics, such as capacity and instructional data, so long as the student-facing purpose remains primary.
The measure directs UH to first complete a systemwide data inventory and implementation plan, then submit a preliminary report to the Legislature by December 1, 2026. That report must identify existing data, gaps in infrastructure, standardized definitions, a phased rollout plan, and proposed dashboard data elements. After implementation, UH must file annual reports beginning December 1, 2027, and a supplementary report before the 2031 legislative session assessing the dashboard’s effectiveness and recommending any further legislation. The act takes effect upon approval and is scheduled to sunset on June 30, 2031.
HB2158 amends Chapter 304A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by adding a new statutory requirement for the University of Hawaii to create, operate, and report on a public transparency dashboard. It also requires UH to incorporate the resulting data into the Board of Regents’ academic program review, planning, and prioritization processes, which may affect decisions to continue, redesign, consolidate, suspend, or terminate programs. The bill does not directly change student eligibility or tuition law, but it imposes new reporting, data standardization, and public disclosure obligations on the university system while requiring privacy protections and compliance with state and federal law.
The overall sentiment appears strongly supportive and largely noncontroversial. The bill advanced through Senate Education, Senate Ways and Means, and conference with unanimous or near-unanimous votes, suggesting broad agreement on the need for better transparency and data-driven planning at UH. The final enactment as Act 120 indicates the measure had sufficient bipartisan and institutional support to become law.
The main policy tension in the bill is between transparency and institutional autonomy. The Legislature explicitly frames the measure as supporting students, families, and evidence-based planning, while also stating that it respects the constitutional authority of the Board of Regents over internal university management. Another possible point of concern is data privacy and the burden of building a systemwide dashboard across campuses with inconsistent data systems, though the bill addresses privacy protections and allows a phased implementation. No recorded committee transcript opposition is provided, and the vote history suggests little visible contention in the legislative process.