My D was recently accepted and we’re heading down for the Scholars weekend in Feb. I’m so confused on what to think of the school but in my opinion it appears as if the school is up and coming and here are a few reasons why I believe this. I find it hard to believe that a school is going to pump so much money into the beauty of the campus and not put any into their academics. In the end, college is about education so it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. As enrollment maxes out and the quality of student increases, so will their academic reputation. They also hired Tubby Smith as the men’s basketball coach. If you’re not familiar with him, he won a national Championship with Kentucky and is a big time coach. They are also building a new basketball arena and the floor is named after Tubby. Once this is done, recruiting will no doubt take a positive turn which should lead to better Basketball teams. I doubt they will ever compete with the other Carolina schools, but they could battle for the spot in the NCAA tourney every year with the conference that they are in. This will also increase the desire to attend the school which will increase applicants and raise the pool with which to chose from. I know their reputation at this time isn’t the best, but it just feels as if everything is pointing in the right direction and now is a good time to get in before enrollment and tuition drastically increase.
This college was a good fit for some kids I know. For a couple of them, getting through college would have likely been an issue but they loved High Point which gives any school a great advantage towards success—being loved by the student, and they were given support that helped them graduate. Now they are doing quite well in the job and maturity areas.
It all comes down to fit. I’ve seen talented, academically very strong kids bomb out of schools because the social climate, academic climate, all sorts of climates just didn’t mesh with what was important to them. I see no big deal that the school has a “country club” atmosphere. I’d love living in a country club atmosphere these days. As long as the students get their work done, learn college level work, graduate with a degree, it’s a good choice IMO. I’ve known many parents who had to set aside their personal ideas about what they want in a school in order to give their kids the best chance to succeed
A brief search of grad outcomes shows that their accounting majors are hired by the big 4, and finance majors land some solid jobs. I would assume those kids were at the top or the class or connected, but that would also be true for a state university. As in most things, the experience there depends largely on what you make of it.
A corporate HR department ignoring students based on their college seems very narrow minded to me-it is probable that several executives attended colleges on a similar academic tier and succeeded.
So I googled the Princeton review list of best party colleges, and 7 of the top 15 are state flagships, and High Point is not on the list, so I don’t understand @blossoms comments at all. High on the list were Syracuse, Tulane, Colgate, Wake Forest, and large public schools
. In the end, college is about education so it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out
IMHO, college is a business. It is about attracting buyers. Some can do it through a quality education. Others do it through their campus and community. Within sales efforts to attract buyers, the business pumps money into what will make them buy.
I agree from the college’s perspective, it is a business for them, but from the students perspective, it is about the education so I believe the glitz and glamour can only go so far until a school is exposed. That’s why I feel like the school recognizes this and pumps more money into academics.
My perspective is as a dad who attended engineering and professional school at a prestigious if impersonal “top 20” university. I have two older kids in fine universities, one in NC at Chapel Hill.
I have spent some time at HPU, most recently for the Presidential weekend with my son. His scores and achievements put him in a position to go essentially anywhere he wants, Ivy’s included.
My son wants to go to HPU. Why? He admires and identifies with the philosophies and sincerity Dr. Nido Qebain has cultivated on the campus. He appreciates being deeply connected to those around him, including teachers and mentors. Like many in Gen Z, he is more conservative than the millennials who preceded him and sees the political leftism/socialism promoted in many college campuses as fake and hypocritical. My son is not a partier.
Unlike Chapel Hill, which he has also considered, HPU is not a place where some class that is required will close out before you even have a chance to register, so sorry, sucks to be you, nobody cares, guess you’ll graduate a semester late. Does that make the students “coddled?” Really I think it’s just different. I like the idea of faculty and mentors being invested in the success of students, rather than just being cold and impersonal. I would expect that the teacher that had the most impact on you the reader’s life was someone who was invested in your success and not someone who barely knew your name and couldn’t care less about you.
Speaking as someone who routinely hires other professionals, I would happily consider someone from HPU because I look at individuals and what they have done. Academic “pedigree” in my decades of professional experience has been a poor predictor of performance, and some of the most memorable bad hires have been of Ivy background. Skills competence and high performance are of course necessary, but beyond that it is initiative and conscientiousness that matter. HPU emphasizes these skills in addition to traditional curriculum, and their academic trajectory seems very positive as they add many new doctoral level programs.
I have read talk on this thread about HPU being a “finishing school,” that the life skills such as formal training in interviewing, personal financial management etc are not hard skills. Maybe not, but they are important, and many (if not most) parents fail to teach these skills to their kids. The students just end up winging it and probably underperforming until they figure it out years down the road. While my son will learn more in some areas and maybe already has others covered, it’s good for him to hear these lessons from someone other than dad. Having 20 video recorded and formally critiqued mock interviews and two internships under your belt before you apply for that first real job cannot help but be a big boost. It’s genius.
I like that HP brings in industry leaders in tech, management, media, etc to be scholars in residence that students can interact with. It’s a good idea that I don’t see a lot on other campuses.
Finally with regard to diversity and safety. My son felt absolutely no issues as a hispanic. He was treated just like anyone else by all the students he met, and made to feel extremely welcomed and included. My own job occasionally takes me to High Point and it’s a small to medium sized city. Crime is something to be aware of; the violent crime rate in HP is above the US average although significantly below that of many major cities housing fine universities. The HPU campus is a “closed” campus - only people with business on campus are allowed in, not the general public. I expect that this markedly enhances security.
Negatives for me? The Email marketing is just over the top. Like I get an email a day from them. There is some good content in there and clearly someone is working hard to be “high touch,” but it’s too much and I don’t blame people for being turned off by it. Personally I don’t find it creepy, just… enthusiastic. They heavily promote what differentiates the school. Dr. Qebain said in one talk that no matter what we end up doing as individuals, we end up in sales - selling our skills, our worth, our value to an employer or client or colleague. Clearly he has taken his own lesson to heart as they promote HPU vigorously. They are proud of what they have built.
HPU teaches liberal arts but if you are looking for a homogeneously politically liberal campus, then there are many many other choices that will be a better fit. Open minded politically liberal students who tolerate a different POV would be perfectly happy there. I would not be surprised if some of the more criticisms on this thread are predicated on disapproval of a less-than-full-throated liberal purity signaling by the university, which must be shocking given the homogenous and ubiquitous latest-fashion virtue signaling on most college campuses.
They may be growing too aggressively, although if that were going to tank them I would think it would have happened during the recession as they grew quickly during that time.
College is what you make of it. I found in my studies that there was always more to learn, more granularity to drill down to, and no school can teach everything. I have no concerns that my son will be unchallenged there; I expect him to challenge himself as he always has. Learning is an active experience, not a passive one. HPU has industry internships integrated into almost all majors.
Maybe in two years I’ll be posting about a disappointing experience or regretting that my son passed on what some of his peers would consider “dream schools.” But I doubt it. In the meantime I would like to thank HPU for the gracious welcome, live music entertainment, and meals they provided us and the other prospective families at the events we have attended. I wish the university every success, and admire what they have achieved.
We just attended Presidential Scholars weekend and I am confused how a school could be ranked so highly by US News and World Report and yet have such a poor reputation.
I currently have a daughter at HPU. I also have a child at an Ivy League school, which I also attended. My daughter at HPU is dyslexic and needed a school that would give her a lot of support. She didn’t choose HPU because of the parties (she is more often in the library), but because it had a support system for students that needed it. I suppose there are easy courses, but I have been surprised how difficult some of her courses are in terms of the number of papers and exams. The introductory core courses use the same textbooks as many other schools. I expected the school to be far easier than it is -maybe she is taking especially hard courses, but if so, she didn’t do it on purpose.
Her LDs are not her fault, you would never know she had learning disabilities on meeting or talking to her. We thought she deserved to have a nice campus and extracurriculars just like her sibling at an Ivy - she worked just as hard to get where she is. And HPU is much cheaper than the Ivy as it turned out.
I made a CC account today just to comment on this thread because I’m seeing a lot of concerned parents and students who deserve to know the truth.
Like nearly everyone who visits campus, I was completely blinded by the glitz and amenities of the campus. I attended HPU for 3 semesters before I transferred out to my state university, but honestly I should have left after my first semester. I was scared of change and admitting that I hadn’t made the best choice, so I tried to deal with the negatives for as long as possible.
I could truly write pages on why HPU deserves a much more negative reputation than it currently has, but I’ll try to keep it reasonably short.
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Academics. I was a slightly above average HS student - SAT around 1250, GPA around 3.4, but nothing crazy. I went to a rigorous private HS, so maybe that is a factor, but I can honestly say that every single class I took during my 3 semesters was ridiculously easy and required (literally) zero effort on my part besides showing up to class. My teachers were extremely willing to inflate grades and give homework passes - to the point that events like Greek rush were given precedent over assigning work. I’m not the kind of person who loves to slave over books in the library and pull all-nighters, but I was actually shocked at how little intelligence was required to pass classes and it gave me the distinct impression that I would be graduating with a worthless degree. Any parents who want their child to have an accredited degree should send their kids elsewhere.
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Social life/Greek life/general campus feel. I know that not all HS kids are going to care about academics, and lots will probably be dazzled like I was by the campus. I was in a social sorority (I then transferred to my state school’s chapter) and the differences between the two chapters was truly shocking. Students at HPU often dress up for class - dresses, heels, makeup, the whole 9 yards. I wish I could say their personalities made up for it, but coming from a middle class family I felt extremely out of place and never felt like my personality was valued more than my body type and blonde hair. Students are catty, cliquey, and stuck up, most drive insanely expensive cars, and care more about your family’s net worth than anything else. I did meet several amazing people at HPU who I am still friends with, but the VAST majority of people I met were extremely shallow. Greek life is also extremely prevalent: the frats throw the only parties (except for the occasional athlete party) and are fully willing to not let GDI’s in because there are plenty of Greeks who take precedence.
I was extremely unhappy at HPU for the above reasons, and if anyone has read this far I implore you to see through the glitz and glamour and salesmanship, and choose a college with real people and real opportunities.
Colleenmarie98, I’m sorry your experience there was unpleasant enough to make you go out of your way to relay your negative views of the academics at HPU.
My son has is still deciding between different schools. It would be important for him to know if the school is not accredited as you say. The information we saw from SAC/SCC, the relevant regional accreditation body That covers the southern United States, if that HPU is fully accredited to offer degrees through the doctoral level, and other specialty accreditation bodies such as pharmacy and Physician Assistant school are also accredited. Has this changed to your knowledge? It is extremely serious if the school is not accredited by the regional accreditation body and would rule out HPU for us. However, I can find no objective information to indicate that HPU has lost accreditation. Can you point me to your source? The SAC/SCC website still lists HPU as fully accredited.
Hi LaBrea, Sorry I should have been more clear in my response. HPU is an accredited school - but only in the loosest sense of the word. What I mean by that is they are very low in terms of name recognition and prestige when compared to other similarly sized schools. As someone on another thread commented, when I attended, the only responses I would get when telling others where I went to school were either “Ohh, the country club school!” or “I’ve never heard of it”. Sorry for the confusion! My point was just that HPU is not worth the money unless your family has connections that would get your child an excellent job regardless of what school they attended. Lots of students have wealthy families who can help them after graduation.
Again, HPU was very attractive to me as a high school senior, and I believe my parents were also duped by the school’s intense marketing. I was in Greek life, gave campus tours, and truly tried to involve myself as much as possible to give it a chance. Happy to answer any other questions!
My understanding from your response is that HPU is accredited, but in your opinion has a low reputation, and your personal experience was that the academics are lacking, and the social milieu was uncomfortable for you.
That’s valuable information. I would just suggest being very clear in differentiating between your personal opinion of the university’s quality, and the accreditation status. Even saying it is accredited “only in the loosest sense of the word” implies that they have some special asterisk type of accreditation. Universities are accredited by their regional accreditation body, or they are not - its binary. Sharing your experience and unhappiness as a student there is helpful, and many will take that story in the context of various college ratings services, other student reports, and their own experience. However, I’d be careful reporting or even implying a deficiency in their accreditation that is not mirrored by their actual accreditation status.
I appreciate your feedback but it’s not really an opinion that HPU has low grade academics. It’s a known fact amongst NC residents: their acceptance rate is high and graduation/retention rates are low. I was being hyperbolic when describing the school as non-accredited, but why would anyone want to attend a school with sub-par academics? I was just trying to remove the wool that HPU frequently pulls over prospective parents’ and students’ eyes. Saying they are accredited in the loosest form of the word is accurate, coming from an actual former student.
HPU comes to mind when I hear the phrase, “there is a college for everyone.”
LaBrea…I remember that HPU’s business school did not at one time have AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation. I took a quick peek and didn’t see it on the list at the AACSB site. Don’t know what degree your son is interested in, but that might be something for you to explore if he might end up in the business school (e.g. Did the school pursue AACSB accreditation? If so, was it not granted? Did the school decide against pursuing AACSB accreditation? If so, why?..etc.).
I only know two people who went to HPU. One was my niece’s cousin on her mom’s side (I’m on her dad’s side of the family) and she transferred after her second year to her instate flagship. I don’t know why she left, but she initially seemed excited to attend HPU from what I heard. The other person I know who went to HPU was a former student of mine. She comes from a wealthy family and her parents are somewhat overprotective of her. As far as I know she graduated, though I don’t know her quite well enough to hear how she liked the school.
Otherwise, most of what I’ve heard about HPU is that it’s somewhat of a “country club” school with cushy amenities…
Our school usually has a few people apply each year, but the girl I mentioned previously was the only student from our school who actually attended. (at least that I know of)
On visiting High Point, my daughter loved the campus - hard not to, and she has been there two years. High Point has provided good support that she has needed for her dyslexia and she has adults there she regularly connects to. As a student with LDs, it was important to have this support available.
Reading all these replies of how easy the classes are, this is not what we have found. I guess if you look for them, there are easy courses to be had, and freshman courses tended to be easy, but DD has had some courses that surprised her - and me -with the amount of work. Many academic articles to read per week for one course and then write a five page analysis, along with shorter written comments on blackboard, for one course, each week. Oh yeah - then one week the same teacher added an infographic along with the other work (daughter hadn’t done an infographic before). I think it depends a lot on the course and the teacher.
There isn’t much to do in High Point town and yes it is rundown, so getting involved in on campus activities is a good thing. I have another child at Duke so my daughter goes to visit overnight if she wants to get away, but that has happened less over the years.
Some of her best teachers have also had online versions of their courses, so that is something she will look for if the school is forced to go online again due to COVID. It’s not a question of good or bad - it’s whether or not your student is happy, learning and thriving at that school.
We just took a VIP tour and stayed for the open house weekend . In theory I thought the philosophy and innovative approach to integrating life skills into the curriculum would be a good fit for our son. After Dr. Qubein’s almost 2 hour free form motivational speech to kick off the open house , both my husband and I shared the same feeling of unease - that something wasn’t quite right . Walking around I commented It felt like I was in Disney Land and also had a Truman Show kind of feel. Now reading the CC posts I see our concerns validated and replicated many times over . I am now curious about their current freshman retention rate for the last 2-4 years. Seems a lot of students have transferred out after 1-2 years . I also am going to ask around to my friends in HR and at OHio State PT school about how they rate about HPU grads .
I would love to hear from parents of students who just completed their 1st or 2nd year at HPU about their experience on campus - socially and academically . I don’t want to just drink the koolaid without educating ourselves on what type of college experience we will be buying ( hearing from the consumers not the salesman )
I also have a question about retention rates, but not about freshmen. Strangely it seems that a LOT of students leave after their junior year. For example the junior class in 2018-19 was 1,165 students but then in 2019-20 the senior class was only 685 – in other words more than 40% of juniors either dropped out or transferred out rather than going on to their senior year. This same pattern has held true for quite a few years. The numbers were shown to me by someone who has access to HPU’s official financial disclosures. Has anyone heard an explanation for this? It seems strange to get all the way to junior year and then leave.