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HRS §305J-13

What happens to student records when a private school closes

When a private college, university, seminary, or religious training institution stops operating in Hawaii, it must give its education records to the Department. The Department can go to court to get the records if they are in danger, and it must keep student transcripts permanently. It can also hire someone else to store the records.

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The statute, as written — Deposit of records upon discontinuance

(a) If a private college or university, seminary, or religious training institution under the jurisdiction of the department ceases operating within the State, the institution, its owner, or the owner's designee, and its governing board shall be jointly and severally liable to deposit with the department the institution's educational records requested by the department in a form to be prescribed by the director. (b) If the director determines that the records of a private college or university, seminary, or religious training institution that ceases operating within the State are in danger of being destroyed, secreted, mislaid, or otherwise made unavailable to the department, the director may seek a court order authorizing the department to seize or take possession of the records and seek additional relief as may be appropriate . (c) The director or the department of the attorney general may enforce this section by filing a request for an injunction with a court of competent jurisdiction. (d) The department shall permanently retain any student transcripts received pursuant to this section in a form prescribed by the director. The department shall retain any other records requested and obtained pursuant to this section for a time period prescribed by the director; provided that at the time of disposal, the department shall dispose of the records in a manner that will adequately protect the privacy of any personal information included in the records. (e) For the purposes of this section, "private college or university" shall not include public, out-of-state institutions. (f) Nothing in this section shall prohibit the department from contracting with any third party for the storage and maintenance of any records required to be deposited with the department pursuant to this section.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.