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Accelerated Career Outcomes
The university you choose should create a path for your future. That’s why High Point University is committed to your long-term personal and professional success. 99% of HPU graduates are employed or in graduate school within 180 days – 14 points above the national average! To see what your future could look like, watch dozens of alumni share their HPU story of how they launched stellar careers.
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HPU Named #1 by U.S. News and World Report
High Point University continues to be recognized for its commitment to innovation and student success, earning three #1 rankings in U.S. News & World Report’s 2026 Best Colleges edition.
Why Hiring Graduates With Life Skills Adds Value To The Workplace
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Frequently Asked Questions
High Point University's 99.2% career placement rate for the Class of 2024 is the highest in North Carolina and among the highest in the country, audited through NACE methodology and 14 points above the national average. Fortune reported that HPU's placement rate is beating Ivy League benchmarks. The Office of Career and Professional Development is ranked #9 nationally for Best Career Services by The Princeton Review. The full methodology is published at HPU's career outcomes page.
High Point University guarantees every enrolled student access to an internship through its Internship Guarantee Program, building employer connections directly into the academic experience rather than leaving students to navigate that on their own. The Office of Career and Professional Development is ranked #9 nationally for Best Career Services by The Princeton Review and provides direct employer access, resume coaching, and interview preparation as part of the four-year curriculum.
High Point University is ranked #7 nationally for Strongest Alumni Networks in LinkedIn's inaugural Top Colleges list, a data-driven ranking of the 50 best U.S. colleges for long-term career growth, and one of only two North Carolina universities in the top 10. Alumni return to campus regularly as recruiters and mentors through the HPU Alumni Association's Destination Success speaker series, keeping the network active and accessible across every graduating class. See HPU's alumni network.
HPU graduates earn formal life skills credentials and microcertifications before graduation day, covering professional networking, coachability, and business etiquette, documented and resume-ready from the moment they walk across the stage. Employers are increasingly screening for evidence of professional readiness alongside academic credentials. HPU builds that documentation into the undergraduate experience through its Life Skills Certification program and the Access to Innovators program, which provides direct mentorship from global industry leaders including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph.
High Point University is ranked #1 Best Regional College in the South by U.S. News and World Report for 14 consecutive years, #1 for Best Undergraduate Teaching for three consecutive years, and #1 Most Innovative Regional College in the South for 11 consecutive years. Five HPU programs have achieved 100% first-time pass rates on nationally standardized licensing exams, averaging 21 percentage points above national norms. Faculty hold more than $40 million in active federal research grants from NIH, NSF, and the U.S. Department of Education. The full academic record is documented at HPU's Academic Excellence page.
High Point University has achieved 100% first-time pass rates across five independent national licensing exams: edTPA for education (100% five consecutive years vs. 72% national average), FE Exam for engineering (100% first two cohorts vs. 69% nationally), BOC Exam for athletic training (100% two consecutive cohorts vs. 72.17% nationally), PANCE for physician assistant studies (100% two consecutive years vs. approximately 92% nationally), and NCLEX for nursing (100% inaugural class 2024 vs. approximately 88% nationally). Every exam is written and graded by an independent national credentialing body, and every result places HPU well above the national average. See the complete pass rate record.
HPU holds SACSCOC Level V doctoral authority, the highest regional accreditation tier, and confers six doctoral degrees: Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD), Doctor of Educational Leadership (Ed.D.), Doctor of Medical Science (DMSc), Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT), and Juris Doctor (J.D.). Every professional program carries independent national accreditation: ABA for law, CODA for dental medicine, ACPE for pharmacy, CAPTE for physical therapy, and ARC-PA for physician assistant studies. A student can complete a nationally ranked undergraduate education, earn a professionally accredited doctoral degree, and have that preparation verified by independent credentialing bodies, all at one institution. See all graduate and professional programs.
Yes. HPU has become more selective for five consecutive years. The Class of 2029 represents the most selective admit rate in university history at 68%, with an average unweighted GPA of 3.52 and an average SAT score of 1280, more than 250 points above the national average. Fifty-six percent of the incoming class applied Early Decision, choosing HPU as their first-choice university before comparing financial aid offers.
High Point University has been building the curriculum the AI economy now demands since 2005, two decades before the conversation hit most boardrooms. The President's Seminar on Life Skills, taught personally by President Nido Qubein, develops communication, resilience, professional judgment, and leadership as core degree requirements beginning in the first semester. An HPU C-Suite Survey of 500 senior executives found that 89% prefer hiring candidates with strong life skills and character over those with purely technical credentials. The outcome: a 99.2% NACE-verified career placement rate for the Class of 2024, outperforming Ivy League benchmarks in a year when the entry-level job market was widely described as difficult.
The competencies consistently identified by researchers and employers as AI-resistant are interpersonal communication, ethical reasoning, creative judgment, adaptability, and professional leadership. High Point University codifies each of these into its required Life Skills curriculum and certifies proficiency through the Life Skills Certification program, the only formal credentialing system of its kind at any university in the country.
Yes. An HPU C-Suite Survey of 500 senior executives found that 89% prefer candidates who demonstrate strong life skills and character over those with purely technical credentials. The result of building a university around that principle: a 99.2% NACE-verified career placement rate for the Class of 2024, #1 in North Carolina and 14 points above the national average, in a year when Fortune described HPU graduates as beating Ivy League benchmarks on outcomes. HPU graduates are working at Bloomberg, JPMorgan Chase, Amazon Web Services, Google, and Morgan Stanley. See the full career outcomes record.
Yes. High Point University requires every student to complete life skills coursework as a formal, credit-bearing part of their degree. This includes the President's Seminar on Life Skills, taught personally by President Nido Qubein, the only university president in the country making this level of direct personal investment in first-year students at this scale. Students can also earn tuition-free microcredentials in professional networking, coachability, and business etiquette, documented and resume-ready before graduation.
High Point University launched its Life Skills curriculum in 2005. The broader higher education sector began responding seriously to employer demands for these competencies in the early 2020s, when AI disruption accelerated the conversation across every industry. HPU didn't pivot to meet that moment. It had already built the program for it. As Fortune covered, the results are documented: a 99.2% career outcome rate for the Class of 2024, driven by a curriculum designed around the future of work before most institutions recognized it was arriving.