Source: IPEDS, as of September 29, 2026. Cost is resident tuition plus required fees, 2023-24.
Associate Degrees in Hawaii
3
Meet the Ranking Threshold
3
Median Resident Tuition and Fees
$29,970
With a Fully Online Option
1
General Studies Associate Degrees in Hawaii
General studies associate degrees in Hawaii are three programs, all at private nonprofit colleges, and all three meet the ranking threshold. No public college in the state awards one, so the University of Hawaiʻi doesn't appear on this list at all, even though its four-year campuses are where most of these graduates would go next. Two of the three programs are in Honolulu, at Chaminade University and Hawaii Pacific University, and the third is at Brigham Young University-Hawaii in Laie, on the north shore of Oʻahu.
BYU-Hawaii has the top score in the state at 57.4, which places it 138th in the national associate ranking, and the reason is price: it charges $6,438 a year in tuition and required fees, graduates 53% of its students and awards 23 degrees a year. Chaminade scores 51.8 with the highest graduation rate of the three, 55%, on 55 degrees a year, but at $29,970. Hawaii Pacific is the largest by a wide margin, with 117 degrees a year, and the only one you can finish fully online, but its 35% graduation rate and $36,080 price leave it at 39.4 and 321st nationally.
Because every program is private, the price you see is the price everyone pays. None of the three charges a different rate to residents and nonresidents, which is unusual for an associate degree and matters if you're moving to Hawaii to study.
The 3 Best General Studies Associate Degrees in Hawaii
The best general studies associate degrees in Hawaii are ranked below by their national score, from the national associate degree ranking. The number on each card is the program's place in Hawaii. Each needed at least 10 graduates in the latest year to be ranked.
1
Brigham Young University-Hawaii
Hawaii
57.4- Private nonprofit
- College graduation rate
- 53%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $6,438 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 23
About the Program
Brigham Young University-Hawaii is a private nonprofit university in Laie, Hawaii that enrolls 2,906 students. Some 23 associate's degrees were conferred in the last year on record, a bigger output than 19% of the programs ranked alongside it. Its college-wide graduation rate is 53%, the 88th percentile, because the federal record tracks completion by institution. Residents and nonresidents are both charged $6,438 a year in tuition and fees. Applicants are admitted at a rate of 47%, which leaves room for a rejection. On the graduation rate of its college it does best, reaching the 88th percentile.
2
Chaminade University of Honolulu
Hawaii
51.8- Private nonprofit
- College graduation rate
- 55%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $29,970 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 55
About the Program
Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private nonprofit university with 2,709 students on its rolls. The program's last federal report shows 55 associate's degrees conferred, so it is larger than 41 in every 100 programs measured here. Across the whole college, 55% of students finish, which is a higher rate than 90% of the institutions behind this list. Tuition and fees hold at $29,970 a year whichever state you come from. Getting in is not automatic, because 91% of applicants are admitted. Strongest of its measures is the graduation rate of its college, which lands at the 90th percentile.
3
Hawaii Pacific University
Hawaii
39.4- Private nonprofit
- Fully Online Option
- College graduation rate
- 35%
- In-state tuition and fees
- $36,080 a year
- Degrees awarded, latest year
- 117
About the Program
Based in Honolulu, Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific University is a private nonprofit university with 4,921 students on its rolls. Some 117 associate's degrees were conferred in the last year on record, a bigger output than 65% of the programs ranked alongside it. A 35% graduation rate puts the college at the 51st percentile, though that figure counts every student who started there and not this degree alone. Every student pays $36,080 a year in tuition and fees, since the institution sets one rate. Because the full degree is offered online, it is open to students well outside the region. Applicants are admitted at a rate of 86%, which leaves room for a rejection. What lifts it most is the number of degrees it awards, where it reaches the 65th percentile.
How Much Does a General Studies Associate Degree Cost in Hawaii?
A general studies associate degree in Hawaii costs $29,970 a year in tuition and required fees at the median, which is Chaminade University of Honolulu's 2023-24 rate, and the range runs from $6,438 at Brigham Young University-Hawaii to $36,080 at Hawaii Pacific University. All three are private colleges with a single published rate, so a student from the mainland pays the same $6,438 at BYU-Hawaii as a student from Laie.
The state aid that fits a two-year student here is Hawaiʻi Promise. It's a last-dollar scholarship for eligible residents with financial need that covers direct education costs such as tuition, fees and books left after other federal, state and institutional aid, at the University of Hawaiʻi Community Colleges. You qualify part time if you're enrolled in six or more credits a semester in a UHCC degree or certificate program, and you're considered automatically when you file the FAFSA. In 2024-25 it paid $5,692,152 to 1,941 students, an average of $2,933 each. None of the seven UH Community Colleges is on this page, so Hawaiʻi Promise pays for a UHCC associate on the way to a UH bachelor's, not for the three private programs above.
Will a General Studies Associate Degree Transfer in Hawaii?
A general studies associate degree will transfer in Hawaii with full general education credit and junior standing at the University of Hawaiʻi if it's conferred as an Associate in Arts from an accredited institution, the credential UH's transfer policy names. Under EP 5.209, effective June 2026, an AA graduate's courses and credits are accepted as fulfilling the general education requirements at all UH baccalaureate campuses, and the AA affords general admission to UH Mānoa, Hilo or West Oʻahu with junior standing, though not into selective-admission programs.
So ask BYU-Hawaii, Chaminade or Hawaii Pacific what the degree is called on the diploma. If it's an Associate in Arts, the UH policy treats your general education as done. If it carries another associate designation, the UH campus evaluates the courses one at a time, so ask that campus how many will count. Within the UH system itself, credits earned with a D or better transfer, and finishing general education at one UH campus satisfies it at any other, rules written for movement between UH campuses.
Reverse transfer also belongs to the UH system: it lets UH Community College students who moved to a UH four-year campus before finishing an AA or AS earn that degree while working toward the bachelor's. Starting at one of the three private colleges here puts you outside that pipeline.
What Do Jobs With a General Studies Associate Degree Pay in Hawaii?
Jobs open to a general studies associate degree in Hawaii pay the state medians below, from the May 2025 federal wage survey, with the national median beside each for comparison. Each row links to the salary guide for that job.
How to Choose a General Studies Associate Degree Program in Hawaii
How to choose a general studies associate degree program in Hawaii comes down to whether a 2-point difference in graduation rate is worth $23,532 a year, because that is the gap between BYU-Hawaii at $6,438 with 53% completion and Chaminade at $29,970 with 55%. Hawaii Pacific is the third option, and it trades the other way: the most graduates, 117 a year, and the only online format, but a 35% graduation rate at $36,080, the highest price on the page. That's why the three finish 138th, 196th and 321st nationally.
If you need to study from another island or from off the islands, Hawaii Pacific is the one choice, so ask it what the online version costs per credit and how its online students fare on completion. At any of the three, ask whether the degree is conferred as an Associate in Arts, since that's what the UH transfer policy recognizes for junior standing, and ask for a net price after institutional aid, because the published figures are the sticker rates. And if your real destination is a UH bachelor's and money is tight, put a UH Community College AA with Hawaiʻi Promise beside these three before you decide.