Study Liberal Arts in Hawaii
What better place to get your liberal arts degree than Hawaii? Not only is it a beautiful place, but it’s also teeming with diversity – a hallmark of liberal arts studies. What’s more, Hawaii is home to numerous colleges and universities offering on-campus and online liberal arts programs.
No matter what disciplines you wish to explore, Hawaii’s higher education system has what you need. Most programs can be completed in four years, and with the flexibility of many liberal arts programs, you can adjust your course schedule around leisure time. And once you graduate, you can stay in Hawaii, establish a career, and continue enjoying paradise!
Liberal Arts Bachelor’s Programs in Hawaii
Listed below are some of the popular schools offering liberal arts bachelor’s programs in Hawaii:
- Chaminade University of Honolulu
- University of Hawaii-Hilo
- Brigham Young University-Hawaii
- University of Hawaii-Manoa
- Hawaii Pacific University
- Kapiolani Community College
- Windward Community College
- Leeward Community College
- Kauai Community College
Chaminade University of Honolulu
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
Chaminade’s Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies prepares you for two options after you graduate. On the one hand, you can continue your education in a master’s degree program. On the other hand, you can use your interdisciplinary education to begin a career in any number of different fields.
This four-year, on-campus program requires 122 credits to graduate. These credits are divided amongst three categories: general education requirements, pre-major requirements, and major requirements.
General education requirements are divided amongst 14 distinct categories of coursework. This reflects the broad-based nature of general education classes – the point is to expose you to many different fields and disciplines. Most of these credits are completed in the first and second year of your college education, and include courses like the following:
- First-Year Experience Seminar
- Introduction to Communication
- Expository Writing
- World Religions
- College Algebra
Likewise, you will take courses that help you develop critical thinking, analytical, and problem-solving skills, as well as classes that promote multiculturalism and diversity.
The pre-major requirements include liberal arts-related studies in a narrower subset of academic fields. You will take courses in English literature, history, philosophy, and religion. You will also take classes in government and politics, behavioral sciences, and the environment.
The major requirements are mostly completed during the third and fourth years of the program. You must complete at least 36 credits of upper-division courses in your chosen concentration. This includes 12 or more credits in a single discipline and another 18 or more credits in related disciplines.
The disciplines you choose to study must be related in a substantial way, either by virtue of their type or by theme. As an example of disciplines related by type, you might choose business as your primary concentration and supplement that with studies in finance and macroeconomics.
On the other hand, you might develop a theme for your studies, such as “psychology of design.” In this example, your primary concentration might be interior design with supplementary studies in psychology.
Chaminade also offers an education emphasis for this program. Choosing this option requires you to complete 30 upper-division credits in education and six credits of senior research with a thesis.
Whatever the composition of your interdisciplinary studies curriculum, you must complete at least six credits of senior research, including a senior thesis. The purpose of this component is to serve as a summative assessment – you must prove through your research and thesis that you can apply what you’ve learned in the program. Your thesis will be read and evaluated by your research advisor and one other faculty member.
The undergraduate application for admission to Chaminade is available online. The requirements for admission as a first-year student are as follows:
- Submit high school transcripts showing the completion of 4 years of English, 3 years of social studies, 3 years of math, 2 years of science, and 3 years of college preparatory electives
- 2.5 cumulative high school GPA or higher
You must also demonstrate English language proficiency if it is not your native language.
University of Hawaii-Hilo
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies
The Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies from the University of Hawaii-Hilo is a 120-credit program that allows you to create a customized degree plan. The interdisciplinary nature of this program is ideal if you are passionate about multiple academic disciplines. Likewise, this is a good option if UH-Hilo doesn’t offer the specific undergraduate degree you’re interested in.
The first component of the degree is to complete UH-Hilo’s general education requirements. As is common, these requirements are extremely diverse; you’ll take roughly 60 credits of courses in about a dozen different fields grouped into four primary categories: foundations requirements, diversification requirements, structural requirements, and integrative requirements. These courses are described as follows:
- Foundations courses emphasize the development of the skills needed for success in college and beyond, such as communications, quantitative reasoning, and multicultural perspectives.
- Diversification courses come from various academic domains. Their purpose is to give you a broad understanding of the arts, humanities, literature, physical science, and social science.
- Structural courses focus on higher levels of communication and reasoning. Sample courses include Language Arts and Quantitative Reasoning II.
- Integrative requirements examine several categories of inquiry, including advanced writing, citizenship, and Hawaii Pan-Pacific history, culture, and economics, to name a few.
The second component of this degree is the liberal studies curriculum. These courses are completely customized to suit your academic and professional goals. Along with a faculty advisor, you will design your own curriculum, ensuring a balance between courses that meet graduation requirements and areas of inquiry that meet your unique interests.
You must take at least 33 credits to satisfy the requirements of the liberal studies major. No fewer than 24 of the 33 credits must be upper-division courses. All of the liberal studies courses must adhere to a coherent academic theme. More specifically, your proposed course of study should explore a specific problem which is investigated through a wide range of liberal arts-related courses.
For example, you might propose a curriculum focusing on the theme of “environmental immigration,” and seek to understand how the changing climate is forcing certain populations to immigrate to new areas of the globe. A program like this could include studies in environmental science, economics, and human geography, to name but three.
Part of the process of devising your own plan of study is to work with your advisor to devise a list of learning outcomes. This helps ensure that your program has a central focus that carries through and is supported by each class you take. Your advisor will also provide you with a memorandum that endorses the rigor of your proposed program.
These documents are submitted along with a program application form which is reviewed by the faculty advisor and the Liberal Studies Coordinator. They in turn provide your application materials to the UH-Hilo College Curriculum Review Committee and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Upon approval, you can enroll in the approved courses and work towards completing your degree.
You can apply to UH-Hilo online. The admissions requirements for first-year students are as follows:
- High school coursework including 4 years of English, 3 years of math, 3 years of natural sciences, and 7 units of college preparatory electives
- A 2.7 cumulative high school GPA or higher
You can still apply if your GPA is below 2.7. However, you must submit official ACT or SAT scores to bolster your case for admission.
Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science – Interdisciplinary Studies
The Interdisciplinary Studies program at BYU-Hawaii can be completed as a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science. Either option requires you to complete at least 120 credits to graduate. You can complete this degree in four years of full-time studies. Part-time studies necessitate 4.5 or more years to graduate.
This degree is divided into four components: general education requirements, the primary academic emphasis, the secondary academic emphasis, and a capstone experience. As noted earlier, general education requirements are usually completed in the first two years of the program and encompass a broad range of courses in disciplines such as the natural sciences, social sciences, communications, the arts, and mathematics.
The primary academic emphasis courses include studies in your major. You must take 27 credits to fulfill the primary academic requirements. The secondary academic emphasis is in a different field and requires you to complete 18 credits of coursework.
For example, your primary academic emphasis might be psychology while your secondary emphasis area is sociology. You could use this combination of studies to prepare for graduate work in social psychology. As another example, your primary emphasis area might be oceanography while the secondary emphasis area is environmental science. You might use this combination of studies to prepare for a career investigating the effects of climate change on ocean environments.
The final component of the program – the capstone – is a flexible experience in which you complete a highly rigorous research project. Credits for the capstone vary, and can range from one to 12 credits, depending on your specific needs and sequence of courses.
The purpose of the capstone is for you to demonstrate your broad understanding of your field of study and how it relates to your academic and career objectives. Before beginning the project, you are required to describe what you intend to do in detail, along with recommendations for how your work should be evaluated and which faculty member will be responsible for the evaluation. This project is usually done in the final two semesters of the program.
Other requirements of this program include the following:
- 24 upper-division credits are required
- 15 or more credits must be earned in residence at BYU-Hawaii
- You must maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher throughout the program
- You must earn grades of C or higher in the primary emphasis area. No more than two D’s (maximum of six credit hours) can be earned in the secondary emphasis area.
The university maintains unique admissions requirements that align with its association with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This includes having an ecclesiastical endorsement from an appropriate church leader. Additionally, you must:
- Abide by the Church Honor Code, which includes standards of dress and grooming, academic honesty, and standards for residential living.
- Be a high school graduate or have an equivalent degree
- Have a 3.0 high school GPA or higher
- Have an ACT score of 21 or higher or the equivalent SAT score or higher
University of Hawaii-Manoa
Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies
Yet another option for completing a liberal arts-related degree in Hawaii is the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. This degree comes in two options: a pre-designed pathway or a self-designed pathway.
A pre-designed pathway offers multiple courses of study designed by the faculty that incorporate diverse learning opportunities into a single degree. The pre-designed option is a good choice if your specific academic interests and professional goals are served by one of the following specialties:
- Human Relations in Organizations
- Linguistics
- Peace and Conflict Resolution
- Social Sciences of Oceans
- Sustainability
Let’s assume you select the first option, Human Relations in Organization. After completing around 60 credits of general education requirements and general electives, you would complete 60 credits of coursework within this major. This particular option is offered online and includes courses like the following:
- Leadership and Group Dynamics
- Communication and Gender
- Pacific Island Cultures
- Culture and Health
- Conflict Management
- Ethics, Aging, and Society
Now let’s assume you choose the Social Sciences of Oceans option. You must complete at least 45 upper-division credits to graduate (though only 36 credits are required for this option, so additional coursework might be necessary). This pathway includes courses such as:
- Environment, Resources, and Society
- Environmental Law and Politics
- The Ocean Economy
- Pacific Island Cultures
- Environmental Hazards and Community Resilience
As you can see, these programs fit the interdisciplinary mold by drawing on widely varied academic disciplines. These are just two options, but each pre-designed and self-designed pathway falls into the same interdisciplinary mold.
However, if your interests are in another area not represented by existing options at UH-Manoa, you can work with an advisor to create a self-designed pathway. This pathway has virtually no limits regarding what you can study. The university requires that your proposed program includes at least three disciplines that relate to one another in some significant way, either through similarity of study or theme.
Whichever path you choose, your studies will emphasize skills development as much as content mastery. In particular, you’ll learn essential critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills, while also having an integrative learning experience that enables you to examine issues from multiple perspectives.
This program additionally emphasizes the following learning outcomes:
- Develop creative solutions to pressing problems facing the world today.
- Develop an interdisciplinary way of thinking that embraces new ideas.
- Develop collaborative skills that enable you to work with others who have different perspectives than your own.
- Prepare to continue your studies in graduate school or apply your learning in new and emerging professional fields.
Both the pre-designed and self-designed pathways include at least 36 credits of studies within the major (120 or more credits are needed to graduate). You must maintain a 2.5 GPA or higher throughout the program. Courses are offered on campus, online, and in a hybrid format to give you the most flexibility for completing your graduation requirements.
The university considers multiple factors when evaluating applications, including your high school GPA, the rigor of your high school courses, academic trends in your coursework, and your completion of the following high school course requirements:
- 4 years of English
- 3 years each of math, science, and social studies
- 4 years of college preparatory electives
- 5 years of other electives
Hawaii residents with a 3.2 cumulative high school GPA or higher are guaranteed admission. When applying you must submit an application for admission, a $70 application fee, and official high school transcripts. ACT or SAT scores may also be submitted but are not required.
Hawaii Pacific University
Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science – Individualized Major
The Individualized Major at Hawaii Pacific University is a flexible degree plan for a number of reasons. First and foremost, you’re in charge of developing the curriculum (with the assistance of an advisor), so you can design just about any degree you like. Secondly, the degree is available as a Bachelor of Arts of Bachelor of Science.
A BA tends to give you more leeway regarding elective courses and often has a stronger foreign language requirement. A BS, on the other hand, emphasizes more coursework in the physical sciences with fewer language and elective options.
Like other undergraduate programs, the BA/BS Individualized Major at HPU requires at least 120 credits to graduate. Though this usually takes four years of full-time studies, you can complete the program in less time if you take summer classes or add an additional class to your fall semester and spring semester course loads each year.
Of the 120 credits needed to complete this degree, at least 54 credits (and as many as 69) are required for the Individualized Major. The wide variability of the needed credits is due to the flexibility given to you to create a customized degree.
The only major restriction for this degree is that you cannot duplicate an existing undergraduate degree already offered by HPU. In fact, your proposed degree must differ enough from current program options, otherwise you will likely be asked to revise your degree proposal.
You must complete the following steps to propose an Individualized Major:
- Submit a written degree proposal that is endorsed by a member of the faculty, your academic advisor, the chair of the program under which the degree falls, and the dean of the college in which the degree falls.
- The proposal must have a theme that joins at least two academic disciplines in a coherent manner.
- You must be in good academic standing with a GPA of 2.0 or higher.
- You must have completed at least three semesters of college courses to apply.
When developing your proposed degree plan, it’s prudent to use the American Council on Education’s credit recommendations to guide you. The Council outlines appropriate coursework, research, and fieldwork options to meet the requirements for a host of undergraduate degrees.
Let’s say you are interested in conflict resolution as a theme for your degree. HPU offers numerous undergraduate programs in adjacent fields, like International Studies, Political Science, and Diplomacy. Your degree could combine coursework from these three fields along with classes and research opportunities in Military Studies, East-West Humanities, and Communications studies for a specialized degree just for you. This is just one example, of course. The same level of flexibility allows you to create any number of other Individualized Majors.
The university takes a holistic approach to evaluating applicants, including the following:
- High school GPA
- Extracurricular activities
- Academic areas of interest
- A personal statement or resume
- ACT or SAT scores (though this is optional)
You must have a high school diploma or equivalency to apply.
What are the Liberal Arts Career Opportunities in Hawaii?
A liberal arts education opens many doors for your professional life after graduation. With Hawaii’s bustling tourism industry, a career in hospitality could be a good option. You can use a degree that combines hotel management, economics, and communications to pursue a career as a resort manager. Another option is to study entrepreneurship and business and open your own guide company in the Hawaiian Islands.
Your career options aren’t limited to tourism, though. You can use a liberal arts degree with a physical sciences focus to work for the National Park Service or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. You can also tailor your degree to careers in human services, education, or journalism, to name a few.
In the field of education, you are well-positioned to contribute as an educator, whether in K-12 settings, community colleges, or within Hawaii’s universities. Your ability to analyze, interpret, and communicate complex ideas is invaluable in shaping the minds of future generations. Additionally, roles in educational administration and curriculum development offer avenues to influence educational practices and policies.
With Hawaii’s commitment to environmental preservation and sustainability, careers in environmental advocacy, conservation, and policy development are both meaningful and impactful. Your liberal arts education equips you with the critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed to address environmental challenges and contribute to sustainable practices.
In the arts and culture sector, Hawaii’s unique cultural landscape offers opportunities in museum and gallery administration, cultural programming, and arts education. Your appreciation for cultural diversity and creative expression can contribute to the enrichment of Hawaii’s cultural scene.
Finally, the growing field of digital media and communication in Hawaii offers prospects in content creation, social media management, and digital marketing. Your ability to communicate effectively and creatively positions you well in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.