How do median wages and the share of graduates remaining in Hawaiʻi change across UH Mānoa programs one, five, and ten years after graduation?
Workforce Understory Episode: Episode Two — Understanding Underemployment
Geography: Honolulu County
Topic: UH Mānoa graduate earnings, retention, living-wage attainment, and education outcomes
The takeaway
One year after graduation, Health Professions is the only UH Mānoa program shown with median wages above the living-wage threshold.
At the same time, several programs retain a large majority of their graduates in Hawaiʻi. Education has the highest first-year retention rate at 93%, followed by Business, Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies, and Health Professions at approximately 85% each.
By year five, Engineering and Architecture join Health Professions above the living-wage threshold. Education and Public Administration record some of the strongest retention rates.
By year ten, a much wider range of programs reaches living-wage earnings. Education, Public Administration, and Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies continue to show some of the greatest staying power.
UH Mānoa offers the broadest range of pathways that eventually reach living-wage earnings, but its highest-retention programs are still not necessarily its highest-paying ones.
What this visualization shows
This visualization compares median wages and the share of graduates remaining in Hawaiʻi across UH Mānoa four-year programs one, five, and ten years after graduation.
In the first year, most programs remain below the living-wage threshold. Health Professions is the primary exception, suggesting a more immediate connection between degree completion, occupational entry, and stronger earnings.
Retention tells a different story. Education, Business, Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies, and Health Professions all retain approximately 85% or more of their graduates during the first year.
By year five, the wage trajectories begin to separate. Engineering, Architecture, and Health Professions have reached living-wage earnings, while Education and Public Administration remain especially effective at keeping graduates in Hawaiʻi.
By year ten, many more programs have crossed the living-wage threshold. Compared with the UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu views, UH Mānoa appears to offer a wider range of degree pathways that eventually lead to living-wage earnings.
Yet the underlying tension remains. The fields with the highest retention rates—particularly Education, Public Administration, and Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies—are not necessarily those with the strongest wages.
Why this matters
UH Mānoa is the state’s largest and most comprehensive four-year public university. It offers specialized programs, graduate and professional pathways, research infrastructure, and employer connections that are not available at the same scale across every campus.
That breadth appears to matter.
More UH Mānoa programs eventually reach living-wage earnings than programs at UH Hilo or UH West Oʻahu. Students who can attend Mānoa may therefore have access to a wider range of fields that combine a four-year degree with stronger long-term financial outcomes.
But access to Mānoa is not equally practical for every student.
Neighbor Island residents may need to relocate, secure housing on Oʻahu, leave family support systems, or absorb additional living expenses. Even Oʻahu students may face transportation, caregiving, work, and affordability barriers that limit their ability to attend the campus.
If a disproportionate share of Hawaiʻi’s living-wage degree pathways is concentrated at UH Mānoa, geography may shape opportunity before students ever enter the labor market.
The retention patterns also reinforce a theme visible across the other campuses. Graduates in Education, Public Administration, and culturally grounded fields appear particularly likely to remain in Hawaiʻi, even when they are not among the highest earners.
That may reflect commitment to community, public service, culture, family, and place. It may also mean that some of Hawaiʻi’s most rooted graduates are building careers in fields where compensation does not fully reflect the value of their work.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi to ask:
How can the state expand access to living-wage degree pathways without requiring every student to attend its largest and most geographically concentrated campus?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
Which UH Mānoa programs reach the living-wage threshold most quickly?
Which programs have the highest graduate-retention rates?
How does the number of living-wage programs change over time?
Which programs combine relatively strong wages with high retention?
Do the highest-retention fields also produce the highest earnings?
How do UH Mānoa’s outcomes compare with those of UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
How much of Hawaiʻi’s access to living-wage bachelor’s-degree pathways is concentrated at UH Mānoa?
Which living-wage programs are available only, or primarily, at Mānoa?
What does that concentration mean for students who cannot relocate to Oʻahu?
How much does housing and the cost of attending Mānoa reduce the practical value of its stronger wage outcomes?
Could selected high-value programs be expanded through other campuses, hybrid learning, shared faculty, or inter-campus partnerships?
Why does Health Professions reach living-wage earnings more quickly than other fields?
What allows Engineering and Architecture to cross the threshold by year five?
Which programs combine living-wage earnings with sustained graduate retention by year ten?
Why do Education and Public Administration retain graduates so consistently despite comparatively modest wages?
What explains the high staying power of Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies?
Do culturally grounded programs strengthen graduates’ connection to place and community?
Are graduates remaining in Hawaiʻi but working outside the fields in which they earned their degrees?
How do public-sector salary schedules affect wages in Education and Public Administration?
Are high-wage Mānoa graduates more likely to leave Hawaiʻi as their careers advance?
How do outcomes vary by race, gender, income, first-generation status, island of origin, and family responsibilities?
Which employer relationships, internships, clinical experiences, or research opportunities improve both wages and retention?
How many Neighbor Island students attend Mānoa and return home after graduation?
What investments would allow more students statewide to access the opportunities concentrated at Mānoa?
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