Hawaii high school students enrolled in Leeward Community College’s early college program will gain access to Pell Grants as part of a national experiment to make college more accessible through dual enrollment programs.

The experiment marks the first time the federal grant, which typically goes to qualifying low-income college students, will be available to high-schoolers.

Leeward Community College is among 44 higher-education institutions nationwide and the only college in Hawaii selected to participate. Waipahu, Campbell and Waianae high school students taking college courses through Leeward’s early college program can apply for the grants.

Early college programs target high school students who anticipate being unable to afford a college education. In some cases students can earn their associate degree and high school diploma simultaneously.

“Historically, low-income and first-generation students are woefully underrepresented in college and as a result woefully underrepresented in the workplace,” said Mark Silliman, Waipahu High’s early college coordinator.

Currently, Leeward’s program, funded by private entities, is offered at no cost to students. However, at least some of that funding is expected to be exhausted within the next year, said Leeward Chancellor Manny Cabral.

“Once the external funding is stopped, the question for us and the Department of Education is what happens next. This pilot project is the only way beyond external funding to tap into government funding,” Cabral said.

Silliman said he hopes students will qualify for the grants, but he’s also bracing for the possibility of a sudden decline in enrollment.

“Last year 1 out of 3 of our 500 graduating students took early college courses,” he said. “We could go from that to zero when the private-source money dries up, and it inevitably will.”

Since Leeward began offering early college courses on high school campuses in fall 2012, with 41 students, enrollment has climbed. This spring the program includes 460 students.

“There is increasing interest in the program, and there does need to be a way to sustain the program long term,” said Kami Kato, Leeward’s early college coordinator.

She said the community college applied to take part in the Pell Grant experiment “because we saw it could fulfill a need for students. We’re seeing this as a viable way to build confidence and college success of students.”

Kato said candidates for the grants will undergo a screening process to ensure they understand the responsibility tied to accepting the funding. “We are going to be looking for students who fit a certain profile, especially those who’ve earned a significant amount of college credits already,” she said.

The Pell Grant funds for the one-year experiment are expected to cover tuition costs for a total of 30 students from Oahu’s participating high schools.

Without external funding or a Pell Grant, students would have to pay for early college courses out of pocket. At Leeward a three-credit-hour course costs $342, not including textbooks.

Ted Mitchell, undersecretary of the U.S. Department of Education, has referred to programs like early college as game changers for students.

“Dual enrollment programs are powerful ways to introduce rigorous coursework to students and show these students that they are smart enough, talented enough and prepared enough to tackle higher education,” Mitchell said in a news release Thursday. “Through this experiment, we hope to learn how the availability of Pell Grants affects student participation and success in dual enrollment programs.”

In the meantime Cabral said he’s looking forward to continuing to work with the first Waipahu High “Olympians,” who started early college coursework in their freshman year and will be completing their associate degrees at the same time they receive their high school diploma in 2018.