When Parker Coloma received an email offering to pay the rest of his college tuition, he thought it was a scam.

The email read, “Congratulations Parker, you are a recipient of the Hawaii Promise Scholarship. … This year, you’ve been awarded $1,737 so you can continue pursuing your degree at Honolulu Community College.”

To make sure that it wasn’t “too good to be true,” Parker went to his academic counselor to confirm the award was real. It was, and now the 19-year-old administrative justice major said he will have the resources he needs to graduate next year.

Hawaii Promise — the “last dollar” scholarship — is a program to pay the students’ remaining balances once funds are exhausted from federal awards such as Pell Grants and other scholarships.

Since 2017, the scholarship program has only been available to the University of Hawaii community colleges, and serves about 1,500 community college students. The average award was $1,200.

But Gov. David Ige and state lawmakers are pushing for a bill that would extend Hawaii Promise to four-year students, and House Bill 2250 to expand the program has passed in the House and crossed over to the Senate for further review.

The bill would make the Hawaii Promise available to UH students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in teaching, health care, social work or engineering, and commit to work in Hawaii for at least three years.

Qualified UH students need to submit a Federal Student Aid form, take 12 credits or more and maintain at least a 2.0 GPA. The scholarship money can be used to fund tuition, foods, books, supplies and transportation.

Hawaii Promise is part of the UH budget request for next year, and the university originally asked for $17.7 million. Ige actually asked for more, increasing the request to $19 million.

House Finance Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said the final decision about exactly how much money will be committed to Promise will not be decided until later in the session.

Luke (D, Punchbowl-­Pauoa-Nuuanu) has supported Hawaii Promise for the community colleges and said she wants a career pathway for students, but this session she said, “we will have to see.”

Maui resident Alejandra Ramirez, 20, is a first generation college student who graduated from University of Hawaii Maui College last year using Hawaii Promise.

Before she was offered the scholarship, her parents worked full-time at restaurants to support her going to school — paying for her tuition, textbooks and computer.

“I feel like seeing how hard my parents work, and all of the sacrifices they made for me helped push myself to do better in school,” she said. She was relieved when she was awarded support from Hawaii Promise.

“Hawaii Promise really opened doors for me,” she said. “I was able to experience new things and make connections. I really worked hard last semester. I got straight A’s and it was nice that I didn’t have to work full-time, and not have that financial burden.”

Ramirez originally planned to attend UH-West Oahu to seek a four-year degree online, but she said her plans drastically changed once she saw her tuition was over $4,000. She said it was frustrating trying to figure out FAFSA, and realizing that Hawaii Promise wasn’t offered to four-year students.

Ramirez said she is now applying for an array of scholarships, and said she will have to wait until next semester to attend school. Hawaii Promise would help, she said.