Across University of Hawaiʻi campuses, which four-year degree programs deliver both living-wage earnings and high graduate retention five years after graduation?
Workforce Understory Episode: Episode Two — Understanding Underemployment
Geography: Statewide
Topic: Graduate wages, retention, campus access, geographic equity, and education outcomes
The takeaway
Five years after graduation, UH Mānoa is the only campus shown with degree programs in the High Wage / High Retention quadrant.
Those programs include Registered Nursing, with median wages of approximately $110,000 and 72% retention; Engineering fields, with wages ranging from roughly $78,000 to $86,000 and retention near 78%; Dental Hygiene, at approximately $70,000 and 72% retention; and Special Education, at approximately $64,000 and 85% retention.
Across campuses, mission-driven fields such as Teacher Education, Public Administration, and Psychology frequently appear in the Low Wage / High Retention quadrant.
The Low Wage / Low Retention quadrant includes several science, humanities, and interdisciplinary fields, including Philosophy and Religious Studies at UH Mānoa and Computer and Information Sciences at UH Hilo.
Only UH Mānoa currently shows programs that combine living-wage earnings with high graduate retention five years after graduation.
What this visualization shows
This visualization compares median wages and the share of graduates remaining in Hawaiʻi five years after completing selected four-year degree programs, with results organized by UH campus.
The matrix places each program into one of four quadrants:
High Wage / High Retention
High Wage / Low Retention
Low Wage / High Retention
Low Wage / Low Retention
The High Wage / High Retention quadrant represents the strongest combined outcome. Graduates reach living-wage earnings while also remaining connected to Hawaiʻi’s workforce.
Every program shown in this quadrant is located at UH Mānoa.
Registered Nursing has the strongest wage outcome, while Engineering combines comparatively high earnings with strong retention. Special Education stands out for its especially high retention, although its wage sits much closer to the living-wage threshold than those of Nursing or Engineering.
The Low Wage / High Retention quadrant appears across campuses and includes several fields connected to education, government, behavioral health, and community service. These programs are retaining graduates, but the jobs graduates enter do not consistently provide living-wage earnings.
The High Wage / Low Retention quadrant includes programs that generate strong earnings but lose a substantial share of graduates. UH Hilo Nursing, for example, reaches approximately $101,000 while retaining about 58% of graduates.
The Low Wage / Low Retention quadrant presents a dual challenge. Programs such as Philosophy and Religious Studies at UH Mānoa and Computer and Information Sciences at UH Hilo produce weaker wage and retention outcomes at the five-year mark.
Why this matters
This matrix reveals that access to a degree is not the same as access to a pathway that produces both economic security and a lasting connection to Hawaiʻi.
UH Mānoa offers several programs that achieve both outcomes. It benefits from a wider range of specialized programs, proximity to major employers, stronger research and clinical infrastructure, and access to the state’s largest labor market.
The absence of High Wage / High Retention programs at UH Hilo, UH West Oʻahu, and UH Maui College raises a question of geographic equity.
Students do not choose campuses in a vacuum. Where they live, whether they can relocate, the availability of housing, family obligations, transportation, and the cost of attending college all shape which programs are realistically accessible.
If dual-outcome programs are concentrated at a single campus, students who cannot attend UH Mānoa may face a narrower set of pathways to both financial security and long-term employment in Hawaiʻi.
The matrix also helps distinguish among different workforce problems.
The Low Wage / High Retention quadrant suggests that the education pipeline is functioning in important ways. Students complete programs, enter locally needed fields, and remain in Hawaiʻi. The central problem is the quality and compensation of the jobs awaiting them.
The High Wage / Low Retention quadrant suggests a different challenge. Graduates have valuable skills and strong earning potential, but Hawaiʻi may lack sufficient employers, specialization, or opportunities for advancement to retain them.
The Low Wage / Low Retention quadrant requires the closest examination of program alignment, employer demand, career navigation, and longer-term outcomes.
This evidence invites Hawaiʻi to ask:
How can every UH campus create or connect students to degree pathways that provide both economic security and a viable future in Hawaiʻi?
Evidence:
Questions this visualization helps answer
Which programs fall into the High Wage / High Retention quadrant?
At which campuses are those programs located?
Which programs retain graduates despite remaining below the living-wage threshold?
Which high-wage programs struggle to retain graduates?
Which programs face both low wages and low retention?
How do wage and retention outcomes differ by campus?
What distinct workforce challenge does each quadrant represent?
Curiosity:
Questions this visualization raises
Why are all of the High Wage / High Retention programs located at UH Mānoa?
Which features of Mānoa’s programs, employer relationships, location, or infrastructure contribute to these outcomes?
How much of the difference reflects access to Oʻahu’s larger and more diverse labor market?
Which successful Mānoa programs could be expanded, shared, or adapted across other campuses?
Could hybrid instruction, shared faculty, inter-campus enrollment, or regional employer partnerships increase access?
What barriers prevent Neighbor Island campuses from developing more dual-outcome programs?
How many students can Registered Nursing, Engineering, Dental Hygiene, and Special Education programs currently serve?
Could expanding those programs exceed local employer demand?
Why does Special Education retain graduates so successfully while offering wages only slightly above the threshold?
What would it take to improve compensation in Teacher Education, Public Administration, Psychology, and other Low Wage / High Retention fields?
Which public policies, reimbursement systems, or salary structures contribute to low wages in mission-driven careers?
Why does UH Hilo Nursing produce strong wages but retain only about 58% of graduates?
Are Nursing graduates leaving Hawaiʻi Island for Oʻahu while remaining in the state, or leaving Hawaiʻi entirely?
What local employer capacity or advancement opportunities would improve retention in high-wage fields?
Why does Computer and Information Sciences at UH Hilo fall into the Low Wage / Low Retention quadrant at five years?
Are graduates in technical fields leaving before their earnings begin to rise?
Which Low Wage / Low Retention programs improve beyond the five-year window?
How do cohort size and data suppression affect campus-level quadrant placement?
How do outcomes differ by race, gender, family income, island of origin, and first-generation status?
What investments would allow students to access dual-outcome pathways without relocating to Mānoa?
How should UH and workforce leaders decide whether to improve an existing program, strengthen its employer connections, or develop a different pathway?
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