Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Studies and Humanities at Chaminade University of Honolulu

A Liberal Arts degree from Chaminade appears to track with national patterns—estimated first-year earnings of $36,340 and debt around $27,000—but Hawaii's higher cost of living complicates the picture. The 0.74 debt-to-earnings ratio looks manageable on paper, yet comparable programs in the state typically produce lower earnings (around $25,000), which raises questions about whether Chaminade's outcomes actually outperform or if the national estimate simply doesn't capture Hawaii's economic realities.

What's particularly striking is the gap between Hawaii's two reporting universities: UH-West Oahu graduates earn nearly $30,000 while UH-Manoa graduates start around $20,000—a 50% difference for essentially the same credential in the same state. Without Chaminade's actual data, it's unclear where they fall in that spectrum. Given the school's 93% admission rate and that 42% of students receive Pell grants, families borrowing $27,000 are taking a real gamble on which end of Hawaii's earnings distribution they'll land.

The fundamental challenge here is that you're being asked to finance a degree with limited proof of its employment value in an expensive housing market. If Chaminade's outcomes mirror the stronger programs, this could work. If they track closer to the state median, that $27,000 debt becomes harder to justify when paired with Hawaii's living costs and the uncertainty inherent in a general studies credential.