Sounds like a good idea to get them familiar with a growing institution. Same as an in person visit for a prospective student. Gotta see it to best understand it. As for paying for it, I think districts would have policies against that type of thing. It’s worth checking if it’s a concern.
The Pell Grant data is a few years old but directionally correct. Still, 55% at Bates are full pay.
Beginning in 2021, Bates partnered with the Schuler Education Foundation to make a significant new investment in financial aid for Pell Grant recipients and other low-income students. A challenge grant of $50 million to Bates College from the Schuler Access Initiative, matched dollar for dollar by Bates donors, will fuel an unprecedented $100 million expansion of financial aid to enroll students from the lowest-income families.
Bates meets 100% of our students’ demonstrated financial need. We provide over $40 million in grant aid to our students every year. 45% of our students receive financial aid, and the average need-based grant for enrolling students in the Class of 2026 was $54,504 .
+++++++
HPU appears to highly market to wealthier students. Makes a lot of sense. Is there really quite a bit of aid available for donut hole families? Or do they find enough willing to pay $50k EFC after aid?
They find enough willing to pay. HPU has deftly figured out its niche in the education marketplace. Qubein didn’t leap headfirst into his “God, Family, Country” tagline. HPU was in dire straits when he started out and as he transformed the marketing effort and focus, he found a perfect storm that became his target customer base. And once he achieved proof-of-concept in targeting that customer segment, he has gone all-in on the GFC angle and he has a customer base deep enough to keep the enrollment interest at a sustainable level.
HPU is not a good option for all. It may be a terrible option for many. But for its targeted customer base, it is an option they value very much.
I think problems can arise from some applicants/families not being fully aware of that focus, and thinking HPU is just another option very similar in all aspects to other colleges some might generally associate with HPU - mid-size private schools with a respectable image like Elon, Furman, WF, Richmond, Loyola Maryland, etc. It is not like those shools. When considering HPU, fit would seem to be a huger factor than normal to consider.
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Agree that fit is the number 1, 2 and 3 issue to consider with HPU.
Kids who are worried they won’t find their “peeps” at their large state flagship because they didn’t have much of a social life in HS-- I say don’t worry. A big, diverse U may have a prevailing culture (lots of sports and frats) but is likely to have 30 micro-cultures (theater, dance, Social Justice Warriors, newspaper kids, the gourmet vegan locavores, etc.) And LOTS of kids who pass back and forth among these groups.
A small, monoculture college is either going to work or it’s not.
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I dont think the prior poster was concerned about not finding friends but about the degree of hand-holding their child required in college. Large public institutions are great for most things, but hand-holding is not usually one of them.
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This stopped me in my tracks…
at least $16,500 for room and board. ($16,500 is tier 1; High Point has five tiers of student housing; tier 5 runs $30,000.)
First, I wonder if a butler and unlimited caviar come with the $30,000 level. Second, I wonder if there is any stigma that comes with the various room & board levels.
I agree that they appear to have tapped a previously untapped market of predominately wealthy families (possibly with particular political beliefs) whose kids may struggle in a traditional college academic environment. They know their market and they go all in.
One of my daughter’s (wealthy) high school classmates fell in love and only applied to HPU, did the early admission in-person “rally” where they give out merit money, etc. to applicants who commit then and there. She came home mid-first semester. I don’t know what happened, but it must not have been a good fit.
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When we were all in HS, there were kids who were either outright described (or were thought of) as “not college material”. Nobody says that nowadays, but coming home first semester doesn’t suggest “not a good fit”, it suggests not ready for college (yet). It’s not as though the kid wanted to study Classical Archaeology and realized that she’d soon exhaust all the resources at HPU so needed a bigger university… more likely that the student had some catch up to do (study habits, work ethic, or just not wanting to go to class every day).
I don’t think the market was “previously untapped”. There were plenty of colleges for this market 20 and 50 and 75 years ago. It’s just that they operated like colleges- provosts and deans ran the show, the dorms were rundown, the food was either tolerable or terrible, the grounds were beautiful in some places, shabby in others. Landscaping wasn’t a priority except for those colleges which had a botanical garden or a historic center green. Parents didn’t realize you could pay for something nicer until HPU. But the basic model has existed for generations.
There isn’t a “yet” in this case as the student ended up enrolling in a trade program. It could have been that they wanted to enter the trade the entire time but felt pressured to enter the 4-year college model, or it could have been that they just didn’t end up liking HPU for whatever reason and decided to pursue another option.
I wasn’t aware of any universities that marketed themselves as a “Life Skills University” 20, 50 or 75 years ago. That’s the untapped market I was referring to. Parents that are willing and able to pay high tuition, room & board at a resort-style university for a “life skills” education.
I mean, WUSTL has a selling point - at least a few years ago - tempur-pedic mattresses in each room.
They also have more students from the top 1% than any school - or did a few years ago.
Some schools have their “gimmicks” - and many schools have nice fountains, gardens, etc. I mean, no one dreams of attending a dump. They might - but they don’t dream of it.
I assume HPU does have real academics.
Just looking at the IR major - I mean, it has “real” classes 
They have kids go to law school and medical school. They say 99% are employed or in school within 6 months.
Schools may be good for some but not for others. I assume HPU is no different - they’re just more business like in their marketing.
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Gotcha, and yes I agree… nobody was marketing “life skills”. I thought you were referring to the “academia-lite” aspect. Although all the places attracting women looking for their “MRS” degree (or their parents)-- marrying up is a life skill, no?
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Never expected to see Bates and HPU together in any conversation!
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They are certainly better at job placement than many of their peer colleges.
I know you didn’t mean it- but just a reminder to folks reading this thread- there really is no such thing as “job placement”. Career Services can be weak, robust, or anything in between. A student can be at a college with fantastic career services and still come out unemployed with no direction.
Companies hire students, students don’t get “placed”. Grad schools admit students, they don’t blindly take the bucket of students handed over to them.
Just a commercial message from the folks in corporate recruiting…
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True. Apparently they have many students who manage the job application process better than students at similar schools
Good characterization. Might be some “enhanced branding” on exactly what kinds of jobs the students end up in… but branding is their business!
At least they are employed. That is a “life skill” some others still lack.
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Absolutely! You’ll never hear me diss employment…
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? Not sure I understand the reference to Northeastern. I grew up in Boston-- so I’m talking the 1960’s and 1970’s-- and it had its fair share of kids who were there to get their ticket punched AND the kids who were serious about their academics. It wasn’t a country club then and it isn’t one now, even though it’s harder to get in to, and the neighborhood around it has gentrified (some due to the university, some due to overall real estate trends in Boston).
It is NOTHING like High Point in any way shape or form- not then, not now.
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I was talking about the school’s rise in rankings.
When I was an undergrad, basically anyone that applied got in. Now it is like 7% admit rate and majority of student’s paying full price. For privates, that is the best outcome.
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I assume he was referring to the orientation about getting jobs at both schools.