Hawai'i Loa Residence Halls Dorm Reviews at HPU

I attended HPU from 2015-2016 during my freshman year. The Hawaii loa campus is located in Kaneohe which is high up in the mountains and is about a 20 to 25-minute drive from the downtown main campus. There are some classes held within the Hawaii loa campus, but not many. Overall this campus is beautiful. If I remember correctly, there 5 dorm buildings and are close to each other. There are vending machines and a laundromat within each building. To use the washer/dryers, you preload money into your laundry card. It was around $1.25 to $1.75 a load. There is a cafeteria in the middle of all 5 dorms. Under the cafeteria is a small gym with sufficient equipment such as a squat rack, dumbbells, treadmills, and other stuff. This gym is open 24/7 and you access it with your HPU ID card. This gym fee is already included in your tuition. Also, there is a soccer field as well as basketball/tennis courts at this campus. They are right next to the dorm's buildings. Everything at this Hawaii loa campus is are really close to each other. Also, get ready to be doing a lot of walking up and downstairs and hills at this campus! Your calves will get used to it after a month, but you'll definitely feel a burn! Again, this campus is on a mountain meaning the views are amazing every morning and night. You'll notice the air is so much cleaner, but also thinner making it harder to exercise at first. The dining hall food was decent but it was very Hawaiian inspired. Rice is served during every meal and they have specialties such as Kalua pork! A major downside to living at this campus during your freshman year is the location. This campus is located uphill and you can only get up here by taking Kamehameha Highway. It is expensive to own a car in Hawaii and no freshman had one including myself. To navigate to and from the downtown campus, Monday through Saturday, you will be using the HPU shuttle buses. Only students can use them (you just show your HPU ID) and they operate at certain times just like normal bus schedules. I believe they come twice every hour. These buses operate around class schedules so they stop operating around 8 pm I believe. If you want to go to the malls, beaches, etc, you have to take the local bus. You do get a free bus pass from HPU, it is included in your tuition and fees. The beaches are amazing as well as the shopping centers. The local food vendors and businesses serve delicious food! Men's haircuts cost around $45 dollars too... super expensive. The main campus is in downtown Honolulu meaning classroom buildings are right next to food vendors, clothing stores, and other businesses. At the time, I was majoring in nursing and my classes were generic biology, chemistry, English, and calculus. Professors were really cool and embraced living in Hawaii. They understood that school was important, but they always embraced students to have fun and enjoy the island. Classroom lectures met university standards, but they weren't too hard. I entered with a 3.6 GPA and decent SAT/ACT scores. Just put in the effort and you will be fine! What was hard for me was balancing my school and fun exploring the island. Keep in mind, living in Hawaii is very expensive. Thankfully I had supportive parents, but everything is overpriced because you are on an island. Milk is about $5 a gallon and $2 barely gets you anything. The Hawaii loa campus does provide work-study opportunities, but only a handful. Most work-study jobs are downtown. But the most full you'll have is doing things that are free like going to the beach, hiking, etc.