In 2022, Palauan Shuri Chibana had completed her Associate of Arts (AA) degree in liberal arts at Palau Community College and was pondering her future as she worked in Koror, Palau’s largest city and commercial center. That’s when she learned some life-defining news. Due to an updated U.S.-Palau Compact Review Agreement, residents of Palau could now pay Hawaiʻi instate tuition at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, resulting in a savings of thousands of dollars per semester.
Today the 23-year-old senior majoring in Psychology has settled in nicely at the College of Social Sciences (CSS), thanks to the College’s Aloha Pathways program. It offers a simplified transfer process for students from partner institutions in Hawaiʻi, California, Asia and the Pacific.
“I looked around my community in Palau, and a lot of our leaders, medical personnel and change-makers are alumni of UH Mānoa,” said Chibana. “The university is prestigious, so I took a chance that this investment might open doors for me, because education is the way to success.”
Leading the way at CSS is Dean Denise Eby Konan, who is a two-time federal appointee to the Palau Economic Advisory Group.
“In my visits to Palau, I have come to understand that these educational pathways are vital to economic and workforce development in Palau, and for Palauans residing here in Hawaiʻi,” said Konan. “We are gratified that students like Shuri are continuing to strengthen our already strong Palau connection.”
CSS and Palau CC have jointly developed educational plans for students to achieve both an AA degree at Palau CC and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree at UH Mānoa in four years. Participating BA programs at CSS are Anthropology; Economics; Geography and Environment; Political Science; Social Sciences of Oceans; Psychology; Sociology; and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies (WGSS). In addition, three pathways are available fully online – Economics, Social Sciences of Oceans and WGSS – so Palauans can earn their BAs while continuing to reside in Palau.
“I’m grateful to our CSS advisors and Pathways Director Jaret Leong, as well as our academic partners at Palau CC,” said Konan. “Most especially, we recognize the late Deikola Olikong, Palau CC Dean of Academic Affairs; Associate Dean Mirianne Temaungil, whose commitment to this effort was instrumental; and Palau CC President Patrick Tellei.”
A beneficiary of that groundwork and effort is certainly Chibana, who is scheduled to graduate in May 2025. She is keeping busy as a peer mentor in the UH Mānoa First-Year Programs, an officer of the Micronesian Connections Association student club, and a CSS College Ambassador.
In addition, she has been joined at UH Mānoa by her two siblings, inspired by Shuri’s successful transition through the CSS Aloha Pathways program. Sister Shizuka Sophia, 18, is interested in finance, and 21-year-old brother Yuji, is a junior majoring in marine biology and also a transfer student from Palau CC.
The three make up an entire generation of their family led by their Filipina mother and Palauan/Okinawan father, Marites and Shinji, who still reside in Airai, Palau’s second most populous state after Koror.
“I hope they are proud of us,” said Shuri of her parents. “And having my sister and brother join me here on this campus, as Pacific Islanders, is a beautiful thing. This is a great place to be.”
For more information on the CSS Aloha Pathways program, contact Leong at jaretl@hawaii.edu or (808) 956-3687.
