HPU - In Consideration...

Colleges and Universities A-Z High Point University
21

LEmom……If you knew more about Qubein’s career as a motivational speaker and business coach, you might not be so quick to take exception to me referring to him as a smarmy huckster.

I could write way more than you would want to read, so I will try to be succinct.

Immediately below is a link for an article about a Dublin, Ireland appearance by Qubein’s good friend and protégé JT Foxx, who bills himself as the World’s No. 1 Wealth Coach.

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/for-richer-or-poorer-the-enigma-of-jt-foxx-wks5ndgwd

Qubein has been working Foxx’s events for many years at this point. Immediately below is a link to a YouTube video in which Qubein calls Foxx “one of the greatest people in America” while shilling for one of Foxx’s events at HPU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m2umoGjw5Q

It is clear as day what Foxx was trying to accomplish at the event in Dublin—and what he trys to accomplish at all his events. He is trying to separate hopeful, oftentimes vulnerable and sometimes desperate souls from large sums of money in exchange for the extraordinarily dubious idea that his coaching will make them rich.

Ask yourself if Foxx is indeed “one of the greatest people in America.” Ask yourself why a university president is slumming around with someone like JT Foxx.

Finally, ask yourself why Qubein is comfortable with and complicit in this type of event. Is it that he doesn’t understand what is going on? Nope. Not a chance. He is comfortable and complicit because this is all too familiar territory for him. This is his industry and these are his people. He knows the game and the grift.

Qubein is more sophisticated than JT Foxx, but he is cut from the same cloth.

I stand by what I have written. One of the abiding ironies at HPU is that a decent liberal education would cause students to shove aside Qubein’s power of positive thinking and to challenge “the wisdom of the ages” that Qubein dispenses at his seminars with the students. As Barbara Ehrenreich argues in her book Bright Sided, critical thinking is “an inherently skeptical activity.”

Last, but not least, see the last paragraph of my previous post. I have very good friends whose children thrived at HPU and who are now out in the world doing great things. Just be careful about the leadership at the school.

22

Sorry for the typo above. Let’s try tries instead of trys. I couldn’t figure out how to edit.

23

Thanks for the links and elaboration. Much appreciated.

24

I have been ‘lurking’ on this site for awhile, never posted before because I am neither a student, prospective student nor parent of either. But I am quite familiar with High Point University, and I agree that if you are looking at this school you should inform yourself, because there are some troubling things going on. We all know the campus has been upgraded since the current President took over. He leads people to believe it’s all due to his fund-raising, but the donations are a rather small part of the picture, HPU has about $150 million in debt including some recent bonds and loans that were not disclosed to the public, in fact the President has falsely stated to the news media that not a penny has been borrowed for several years. The endowment is very small, so the administration takes a lot of cash from tuition, room and board which it pumps back into construction. Nothing wrong with that - except they haven’t been investing to improve the educational experience, and now the word is getting around that it is a mediocre school. Applications are down, the freshman class enrolled this past September was the smallest in 7 or 8 years.If this continues HPU will soon be in serious financial trouble. Admissions is using desperate tactics like offering accepted students $1000 to visit the campus where they try to persuade them to enroll. Usually when you are looking at colleges you assume they are responsibly managed and you don’t need to dig into their finances, but in this case you need to. If you go to the following website: emma.msrb.org and type in High Point University you get a list of their bond issues, click on the one from 2011 or 2012 and then click the Continuing Disclosure tab. All the info is in there.

25

To be more specific about what picaluna has written……Mr. Qubein told a WFDD reporter (Here: https://www.wfdd.org/story/turkish-coffee-3-am-conversation-high-points-nido-qubein ) that the school hasn’t borrowed “10 cents” since 2011 when the school’s financial statements (years ended 2016 and 2015 at the MSRB URL above….page 29) show that the school borrowed $9 million for the construction of the building for the School of Health Sciences.

The irony is that the only reason that the school borrowing $9 million for the biggest project it had taken on up to that point is of any notice is that Qubein chose to lie about it.

Lie? Yep. It is not spin or some sort of misunderstanding. Qubein brags about being better informed about his school’s financial condition than any of his staff members. The idea that he didn’t realize that the school was borrowing $9 million for construction is ridiculous.

This is not the only example of Qubein fibbing to the press. He apparently thinks that alums, prospective students and their parents, his board and the public in general are stupid.

26

We recently visited High Point and my DH immediately felt something was “off” financially. He looked at the grounds and new construction compared to the cost of attendance and the endowment and felt the did not match up. He spent the entire tour googling information about the financial state of the school. He also consulted with his company’s CFO and asked him to do some digging to confirm his suspicion that school was in a precarious financial state. Apparently about 5-6 years ago HPU’s bond rating was downgraded three times. Our CFO said that was a red flag and it’s unusual for bond ratings to be downgraded 3 times in a short period of time. My DH feels it’s almost a Ponzi scheme as they are building with the reliance on money that students “will” be paying in the future and it’s not a certainty. In fact from the information that others have posted before the student enrollment is declining. So is this sustainable? Will tuition have to increase dramatically to cover costs? They give a hard sell at the end of the tour in a private meeting with an admissions counselor. They told my DD how they thought she was so great and a perfect fit for HPU (she’s not a recruited athlete and doesn’t have any “hooks”). They even gave her an application waiver. So I can see how people really love HPU as they make them feel so special. But it’s off our list - even though it costs less than many other schools on DD list. We are very concerned about the finances and honestly, I think this school caters to students too much.

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There are a plethora of red flags concerning HPU. Qubein being the biggest red flag, IMO. I don’t see it as cater to the student as much ad I see it as catering/pandering to the parents fears, worries and vanity.

Little thing bug me too. I rarely heard any mention of the students being actively involved with the surrounding community. Everything about the campus is designed to keep them contained on campus.

DD declined months ago and we just can’t seem to get off the email lists despite unsubscribing everytime we receive one and notifying HPU that we just aren’t interested. They’ve sent, multiple times, the $1000 tuition reduction offer if she visited campus again. Everyone likes the personal feeling HPU gives, at first, now is just feels desperate.

I don’t think HPU is going to implode. I doubt they will be able to ramp up tuition too much more, because they frankly don’t have the national presence they need to justify $60k tuition. I doubt they will ever be able to hit that exposure level, even with Qubein’s magic thinking.

I hope I am wrong, I hope HPU keeps it’s head above water and eventually becomes the place it envisions. I am just not willing to be part of the experiment nor make my kid the guinea pig.

Oh any if anyone has any advice on how to get off HPU’s dang email list, please let me know!

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@LEmom We are in the same situation. HPU was always my daughter’s first choice. She was accepted at all ten schools she applied to, some with amazing academic reputations, and at the end of the day, HPU never fell from the top spot for her. She knew how much she needed to get in merit aid to make it possible, and she did her part. While part of me is still uncertain, a larger part of me is choosing to trust her gut instinct and believe it is the best choice for her. I am also glad the decision is made and final

29

Just visited HPU, and I agree about the Disneyland feel to the place. They market themselves pretty relentlessly. They were also the only place to give us both a t-shirt and nice coffee tumbler plus an application waiver just for showing up.

I think the school has a lot to offer but it felt strange and cultish, from the over the top fountains (6 huge ones plus an outdoor pool visible from just one vantage point on the tour), to the emphasis on life skills (“We teach you table manners!”) to the statues of inspirational figures on almost every bench, to the cult of Nido. The facilities are spotless and palatial. I couldn’t decide if it was fun or creepy to find our names on a electronic board in front of our individual parking spot. I think if they toned down the Stepford aspects of the tour the school could sell itself.

I probably shouldn’t be writing this because kiddo wants to apply. It checks all the boxes on her school wish list and in term of curriculum it aligns well with what she wants to do.

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Sue22, there are a lot of kids who take the tour and think HPU ticks all the boxes. Then they enroll and realize very quickly they were sold a bill of goods, so they transfer out. The freshman retention rate is very low for a private college, and if you read back through comments on this site you will understand why.

31

My younger sister graduated from High Point a few years ago. Our family isn’t rich or from the northeast. She received a large merit scholarship from HPU and graduated with little debt. HPU wasn’t her only choice, and her decision to go there had nothing to do with swimming pools or manicured lawns.

Our family chose HPU because my sister has major medical issues. Out of all the schools she applied to, they were the best equipped to handle her needs. She could have her weekly blood work done on campus, have prescriptions delivered, have the free clinic administer weekly meds, and if she had to be hospitalized they had a program in place that would allow her to continue her classes without having to drop out or take an incomplete. They were also equipped to handle her dietary restrictions and provide medical disability accommodations. They even had staff available that could dive her to Dr. appointments or stay with her in the hospital if needed. No other school we looked at came close to matching what HPU could for her in this regard. Most said if she needed to be hospitalized, she’d have to drop out for the semester. Thankfully, we never needed half these accommodations. She was always able to drive to her own appointments and was able to work hospital stays around her school schedule, but knowing these options were available was a huge comfort to my parents. It’s stressful enough sending a kid off to college, try sending one off with major medical problems.

For those seriously considering, here’s our families perspective.

We were really impressed with how organized the school was. This was probably our favorite thing about the school. Everything was always very well thought and planned out. Move in was incredibly organized as was the school in general. I also remember these freshman handbooks they had. They weren’t your typical handbooks. There were two versions one for parents and one for students. They basically went through the whole first year in a calendar style listing dates, deadlines, important events, and issues you as a parent or student might be dealing with and offering lists of resources out beside these to help you. They were really nice.

We also liked the all inclusive price. No hidden fees and extra costs that add up. Everything is included, no extra cost for printing, tech support, laundry, etc. Free technology rentals if needed, things like laptops or iPads. Great to be able to rent one if yours breaks, and you have a project due. Great that tech support will fix the broken one for free as well. I think free tech support was my sister’s favorite amenity at HPU. I think she used them more than any other service. They fixed phones, iPads, computers, installed special software, fixed her email, etc. It was convenient to be able to do it all on campus as well.

Like any school, my sister had professors she loved and ones she hated. Overall, she liked most of her professors, and they seemed to really care about their students. She became close with a few who really went out of their way to help and advise her.

My sister did find her general freshmen level classes a little on the easy side. However, I’m not sure that’s a reflection of HPU. My sister has a very high IQ, skipped a grade in school, and went to a rigorous college prep high school. They routinely wrote 10 page papers in high school in both English and other languages and were required to write a 50 page paper to graduate high school. She basically started as a sophomore, already having AP or dual credits for most of the freshman level classes. She even took a junior level class her freshman year, so she isn’t your average student. I know she enjoyed her upper level courses and found them challenging. Overall, she felt she got a good education and definitely a better education then what our state school was offering. In addition, she and all her friends graduated in 4 years and all found good jobs in their fields which is kind of the point of college.

As for the town, my sister really loved High Point. Don’t ask me why because I was never impressed. Maybe it’s the giant dresser. I do know she fell in love with a number of the mom and pop type restaurants there. Also, I think having Greensboro so close really helped. My sister lived on campus all 4 years. She also worked on campus. She did take weekend trips with friends to other cities, and they did visit Greensboro for concerts, shopping, and other events, but I think most of her time was spent on campus (in class, working, in clubs, hanging out with friends, studying, dining, etc). It’s definitely not a commuter school. You are required to live on campus through junior year, so by your senior year, it doesn’t make sense for most to move off campus for only one year. It was cheaper for my sister to stay on campus her senior year, so that’s what she did.

Overall, my sister really loved her years at HPU, and doesn’t regret her decision to go there. She had fun, made lasting friendships, some good contacts, and got a degree and a job out of it.

Definitely look at what it offers for your major and goals in life. It may or may not be a good fit. I’d never choose a school because it looks pretty. Those stupid fountains are actually one of the cons our family had with the place.

If anyone has any questions, I’d be happy to answer them, but I’m not here to debate the crazy president or the decor.

1 Like
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That is great information and clearly it was a good experience for your sister and your family. I’d like to ask about the social scene. It is on my daughter’s list but she’s not a sorority “type” although I suspect if she found the right fit with the right people she’d be into it because she is super social. I wonder if it’s too much of a preppy, southern, greek-life social scene for her coming from a midwest, east coast background. All the brochures also show everyone very dressed up. Do they dress up for class? That would be a hard pass for her coming from a private school with uniforms. They have all of the academic programs she’s interested in and it’s lovely but the “fit” she’s not sure about.

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My DD is a junior at a midwest LAC. Her new roommate this year is a junior transfer from HPU. Her reason: lack of challenging coursework.

My dear friend is a professor in NC and knows HPU well. Her first words: Do not send your kid there.

Everything negative I’ve read here has been echoed in other places. Caveat Emptor

34

highschoolparent1

Sorry, I haven’t responded sooner. I haven’t been on here in a while and only now saw your post.

As far as the social scene, it is a bit of a party school because they allow alcohol on campus. The Greek Houses are pretty much party central every weekend and a lot of people go to the bars in the small downtown area to party as well. Although, the school tries to discourage that. They’d rather they be on campus where they can keep an eye on them. However, you don’t have to party or be in a sorority to have a social life.

My sister was not in a sorority. That’s not something our family could afford. She and her closest friends were all in the Honors Program and shared an Honors dorm together. One roommate was big into drinking and partying. This girl wasn’t in a sorority either, but still partied. Most of my sister’s other friends didn’t really drink or party at all, and my sister wasn’t a party girl either.

Despite not being a party girl or being in a sorority, she still found plenty to keep her busy and didn’t feel left out socially. I’d say she made probably 6 or 7 close friends she still keeps in contact with today and had a larger social group of 20 or 25 she hung out with regularly. That number may be higher, I’m estimating based off who all I’ve heard her talk about. I think some of her friends were in sororities, so it’s not like they look down on you or exclude you if you aren’t.

In her free time, my sister was involved in a few different clubs on campus. She also worked a few different jobs on campus over the years. I think one year she was an RA and was in charge of planning events for the freshmen she was responsible for. I know she worked as a tutor some as well. She was also involved with a local church and socialized some with their college group in addition to her High Point friends. From what I can tell, she pretty much did all the normal things you do with friends. They’d go get coffee, go out to eat, go to the movies, go shopping, go to school events together, go to sporting events, go on weekend road trips, go to concerts, etc. I know one of their favorite things to do was to have picnics on the promenade, and later when they had a kitchen, they liked to cook. She also did study abroad, and I know she took drum lessons offered by the school one year for the fun of it. Although, she didn’t join any sports teams, she used the gym regularly to work out. Most of her friends were involved in similar pursuits: school clubs and activities, work, internships, church, etc. One was big into theater and also played in the school band/orchestra. One was into sports and participated in intramurals. One was more into academic clubs. One loved to bake, so you can see there was a good variety of interests, and they all found their place at the school.

As far as being preppy and dressing up. That’s kind of a yes and a no. No, in general, they don’t dress up to go to class. They dress like fairly typical college students. Jeans, T-shirts, sweatshirts, athletic shorts, leggings, tennis shoes, flip flops, etc. On the other hand, the kids do seem to come more from middle to upper class families, so in general, you see more of that style of clothing. It’s not really a hipster scene or anything like that. Also, there are some classes or instances where you do have to dress up, business casual or formal, but those are few. For instance, you must dress formal to go to the steak restaurant on campus, so you might see a group of kids dressed up heading over there one night. You also have kids doing internships who are more dressed up because of that, especially juniors and seniors. I don’t think my sister ever really changed clothes during the day when she had both classes and internship work, so she would have been in business casual attire on campus. Special academic events would require dressing up for as well, and I think business casual is required for working on campus, but that may be position specific, depending on if you are working in an office setting or not. I would expect to see about the same at most schools as far as some kids needing to dress up for one reason or another.

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Having graduated from High Point University, I wish my parents would have steered me in a different direction. I and they are so regretful that they did not take a more forceful role in getting this college out of my gaze. The place is 100% ivory tower with little to no socioeconomic diversity. It does not, as its value proposition claims to, prepare you for the “real world” by exposing you to innovators. Those innovators are on campus for 45 minutes once per month. Think about who your kids are going to be spending the most time with: the other students. The classes are an easy joke, employers don’t take you seriously out in the job market, and the support system they tout babies wealthy students who don’t study and don’t care to engage in larger issues. No flyers taped to the walls? It’s an indicator of the apathy that is omnipresent among the student body at HPU. There is no social dialogue, no questioning of the administration, and the whole 4 years were VERY Orwellian. I beg of you: do not let the flash of this place fool you. There is no substance underneath. It is a bunch of very very wealthy, mostly conservative, white kids who run around this place, and everyone else is left marginalized.

36

@labegg Thank you so much for that information. As they say “where there is smoke there is fire” we have heard many many whisperings and conversations around the things you have mentioned and other HPU oddities. However we have kept coming back because of the slick videos and of course constant chatter of the beauty of the campus and the dorms. You have helped to finally wrest us from considering take a sip of that kool aid! No President of any college that wants to be mainstream should be that “out there” - took many eggs in one basket for HPU.

37

I completely get where you are coming from. As a parent of a current HPU freshman, I will agree, the marketing materials during our search process were on overload, but underneath the surface of all that excess, the school itself truly is a remarkable place and perfect for our son. There really isn’t any other university that has a primary focus of Life Skills, which are absolutely vital in today’s job market, and world. With each new piece of mail we received, we would set it aside and keep our focus on the school itself - academic programs, support systems, campus culture… just as we were doing with all the other schools under consideration. And throughout the entire process, HPU remained my son’s top choice. He is there now and absolutely loves it.

Another thing to consider is that HPU has a tremendous reason for how much the president is involved in promoting the school. Since he became president (he is also an alum), he has raised an incredible amount of capital for the school - expanding their size tenfold or more. He has engaged the school with the community and brings in speakers and resident scholars who provide amazing insight and contacts for students. It’s to their benefit to promote the president because of how much influence he has had on the growth of the school. The school has a great marketing team and they know that the president is a huge piece of why the school has grown the way it has, so they use that to their advantage.

It’s also to the students’ advantage to have the kind of access that they do to the school’s president. He is actively engaged with students daily, and available to parents no matter what, whether it’s email, phone calls, or in-person. He even teaches a freshman seminar for an entire semester on life skills, which our son LOVES. He’s a great speaker, he is a passionate supporter of the school, and he is passionate about education. Not many universities will allow students and families to engage with the president, which is another reason why HPU is so unique.

We know several people who were also turned off by all the material they received in the mail, but It all boils down to whether or not the school itself is the right place for your child. Marketing materials aside, our son felt like HPU was his home from the moment he stepped onto campus. THAT was what we focused on.