HONOLULU -- Kamehameha Schools on Tuesday offered a new scholarship program to help Native Hawaiian families get their kids into private school.

Kamehameha Schools officials said they will award more than $1.2 million to 240 children entering kindergarten at other private schools throughout Hawaii this year.

The new scholarship is called the Pauahi Keiki Scholars Kindergarten Program.

Families can reapply each year for financial assistance through grade 12.

School officials said only one out of eight applicants makes it into Kamehameha so it will invested more than $47 million into the program over 15 years.

"We're hoping to see more children have more choices in where they go to school," said Dr. Rod Chamberlain of Kamehameha Schools. "And the number of kids who have a strong quality of education will continue on and have more leaders of Native Hawaiian (ancestry)."

Private schools such as Punahou School are praising the program and said it helps extend Kamehameha's reach. Others said it helps their own schools become more ethnically diverse.