Confused about high point university...?

It’s a gorgeous school and it is ranked #1 in the south by usnews, but some of the reviews I read here say the academics are not very good. How can they not be great if it is ranked #1 in the South?
Thanks

It’s not that the academics are not good at High Point. It’s that High Point admits students who could not get into some of the more selective schools. Also, High Point has a philosophy of offering a very practical education. Getting students ready to succeed in the real world, might be a good way to say it. This philosophy is seen by some as inconsistent with a “learning for learning’s sake” approach that many liberal arts colleges profess to follow. You hear the same argument about business degrees. Many students want them because they believe it is a practical degree that will assist in getting a job. Others look down their noses at business degrees and believe they are little more than going to a trade school. They believe instead in a liberal arts education.

My son is at High Point. For him, it is a perfect fit academically. He is a “B” student, not a straight “A” student. He has been impressed by the caring nature of the faculty. The school offers him everything he wants academically. But he’s not naive enough to think that it offers the same level of academics as Harvard. As with most things in life, it is all relative. High Point offers an outstanding education for the students it serves. Just like Harvard offers to the students it serves. But it would not be a good idea for either group of students to switch to the other school.