About UH Mānoa
UH Mānoa About UH Mānoa
Established in 1907, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is the largest and oldest of the 10 UH campuses. Mānoa offers hundreds of undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees; a strong, vital research program; and nationally ranked NCAA Division I athletics. UH Mānoa is a research university of international standings.
It has widely recognized strengths in tropical agriculture, tropical medicine, oceanography, astronomy, electrical engineering, volcanology, evolutionary biology, comparative philosophy, comparative religion, Hawaiian studies, Pacific Islands studies, Asian studies and Pacific and Asian regional public health.
The University of Hawaii at Manoa lower campus
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is a world-class university providing affordable, quality higher education to the people of Hawaiʻi and conducting pioneering research to address critical issues facing the state.
Excellent Value
UH Mānoa continues to be an excellent value with tuition more than $4,000 below the national average for a public university, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and one of the reasons why Hawaiʻi, compared to the other states, has one of the country’s lowest rates of student debt. The flagship campus of the UH System is consistently ranked in the top 1.5 percent nationally and internationally.
Strong Research
UH Mānoa is one of 115 R1: Research Universities, considered the top tier in the country, and one of a handful of land-, sea-, space-, and sun-grant institutions. It is a global leader in earth and environmental sciences, consistently ranked among the top 15 universities internationally, ahead of some of the world’s most prestigious schools. UH Mānoa researchers provide world class expertise to local leaders on important issues including sustainability, climate, food systems and Hawai‘i’s unique health issues.
Multicultural Global Experience
Committed to being the leading indigenous serving university in the country, UH Mānoa proudly delivers a unique multicultural global experience in a Hawaiian place of learning, with a long history of adherence to the principles of sustainability and the essence of aloha—truly like nowhere else on earth.
See our fast facts or, for more detailed information about the University, please visit the Mānoa Institutional Research Office (MIRO) pages.
At a Glance
Founded: 1907
Location: beautiful Mānoa Valley, just outside downtown Honolulu, Hawaiʻi on the island of Oʻahu
Campus size: 320 acres
University of Hawaiʻi System motto: Maluna aʻe o nā lāhui a pau ke ola ke kanaka (Above all nations is humanity)
Students*
Total student population: 17,710
Undergraduate: 12,968
Graduate: 4,742
Hawaiʻi (in-state) students: 65%
Out-of-state students: 29%
International students: 6%
States represented: 50
Countries and Regions represented: 121
Male/female ratio: 42:58
Average High School GPA: 3.6
Average SAT scores: 1157
*current as of Fall 2018
Undergraduate Student Diversity*
According to The Chronicle of Higher Education “The University of Hawaii-Manoa is the most diverse university in terms of students and faculty, with a student-body Diversity Index of 76 — a full 22 points greater than the index for the U.S. population as of 2010 — and a faculty index of 61.”
UH has one of the most ethnically-diverse student populations of any university
Asian: 36%
Caucasian: 23%
Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander: 16.8%
Multiracial: 14.6%
International: 6%
Hispanic: 1.8%
Black or African American: 1.6%
American Indian or Alaska Native: 0.4%
*current as of Fall 2018
Financial
Undergraduate
In-state tuition (avg.): $11,088*
Nonresident tuition (avg.): $33,120*
Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE): $16,632*
Pacific Island Exemption: $16,632*
Graduate
Resident: $15,600
Nonresident: $38,352
*Full-time undergraduate 2018-2019 full academic year.
Approximately 58% of students receive some form of financial aid. 23% of undergraduates live on-campus (10 residential halls and 2 apartment complexes). Rates shown reflect tuition cost only and are subject to change.
Academics
Average class size: 20
Colleges and Schools: 17
Degrees (programs and academic areas)
Bachelor’s degrees: 100
Master’s degrees: 87
Professional and Doctoral degrees: 59
Accreditation: Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC)
Research
One of only a handful of universities nationwide to hold the distinction of being a land-, sea-, and space-grant institution, UH Mānoa is ranked in the top 50 public universities in research expenditures by the National Science Foundation.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa maintains a vibrant and active research program with more than $300 million in new extramural funds for research in 2014. UH Mānoa’s faculty includes members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Institute of Medicine.
Classified by the Carnegie Foundation as having “very high research activity,” UH Mānoa is known for its pioneering research in such fields as oceanography, astronomy, Pacific Islands and Asian area studies, linguistics, cancer research, and genetics.
Athletics
The Univeristy of Hawaii Mānoa Rainbow Warriors are a Division 1 football team
Member of the Mountain West Conference (football) / Big West Conference
NCAA Division I
Diverse NCAA Division I athletics program with approximately 450 student athletes competing on 21 men’s, women’s and co-ed varsity teams
Campus Life
Student organizations: over 200
Intramural sports: varies by semester
Alumni
More than 170,000 alumni reside in 50 states and more than 100 countries worldwide. Below are just a few of UH Mānoa’s many notable graduates who are leaders in their field:
Neil Abercrombie, MA ’64, PhD ’74, former Governor of Hawaiʻi
Robyn Ah Mow-Santos, ’96, USA Volleyball Team member and former Olympian
Daniel Akaka, BEd ’52, MEd ’66, U.S. Senator (retired)
Arsenio Balisacan, PhD, ’85, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and Director-General of the National Economic and Development Authority of the Philippines
Robert Ballard, MS ’66, oceanographer
Angela Perez Baraquio, BEd ’99, MEd ’04, Miss America 2001
Michael Chun, MS ’68, president, Kamehameha Schools
Tammy Duckworth, BA ’90, U.S. Congresswoman former Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Colleen Hanabusa, BA ’73, MA ’75, JD ’77, former U.S. Congresswoman
Mazie Hirono, BA ’70, U.S. Senator
David Ige, BS ’79, MBA ’85, Governor of Hawaiʻi
Daniel Inouye, BA ’50, U.S. Senator
Jong-wook Lee, MPH ’81, former Director-General of the World Health Organization
Edward Tsang Lu, postdoctoral fellow, former NASA Astronaut
Sabrina McKenna, BA ’78, JD ’82, Hawaiʻi Supreme Court Associate Justice
Patsy Mink, BA ’48, former U.S. Congresswoman
Kenneth P. Moritsugu, BA ’67, former Surgeon General
Ken Niumatalolo, BA ’90, U.S. Naval Academy head football coach
Barack Obama Sr., BA ’62, Father of U.S. President Barack Obama
Richard D. Parsons, BA ’68, former Chairman of Citigroup
Cheryl Castro Petti, BA ’94, CNN Radio network anchor
Patricia Saiki, BS ’52, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives and teacher
Ann Dunham Soetoro, PhD ’92, mother of U.S. President Barack Obama
Jay Shidler, BBA ’68, entrepreneur and benefactor of the Shidler College of Business
Mark Takai, BA ’90, MPH ’93, U.S. Congressman
Charles Nainoa Thompson, BA ’86, navigator and former trustee of Kamehameha Schools
