HONOLULU -- Kamehameha Schools announced Thursday that it has offered admission to a non-Hawaiian student at its Maui campus.

The student was offered the slot at the school for the year that starts next month. The student is a ninth-grader.

Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Hamilton McCubbin informed some of the school's alumni Thursday.

"Kamehameha Schools selects applicants who demonstrate a potential for success in this rigorous educational program. When all accepted applicants of Hawaiian ancestry meeting this criteria have been exhausted, non-Hawaiian applicants may be considered for admittance on a space available basis," McCubbin wrote in his announcement.

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The admission policy of Kamehameha schools gives "preference" to Native Hawaiians to the extent allowed by federal law.

Officials said there are normally more Hawaiians applying than there are spaces available, but that was not the case at the Maui campus for this coming year.

This is not the first time non-Hawaiians were allowed to attend the schools. In the 1920s, there were three or four students, according to school officials. During the 50s and 60s, the children of faculty who were non-Hawaiian were allowed to enroll.

Kamehameha Schools said the number of spaces available at the Maui campus doubled in grades K-9.

Officials plans to hold a meeting Friday to discuss the admissions policy at the Maui campus.

President of the Kamehameha Alumni Association Oahu region Roy Benham said he is disappointed by what's happened.

Some say the charitable trust is under pressure as a result of the recent scrutiny and lawsuits in the past few years. Kamehamheha Schools recently shut down a number of its federally funded programs including financial aid and junior ROTC.

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Stay with KITV 4 News and TheHawaiiChannel.com for more on this developing story.