Accreditation for the B.S. in Biochemistry
High Point University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). That accreditation includes the Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry offered by the Wanek School of Natural Sciences.
ACS-Certified Chemistry Coursework
Biochemistry majors take their chemistry coursework in HPU’s chemistry department, whose B.S. in Chemistry is certified by the American Chemical Society. The American Chemical Society reviews curriculum, student skills and faculty against national standards. Grace Parizek, now at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, credits that rigor as preparation for the MCAT.
University Accreditation
High Point University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) and has been continuously accredited since 1951. SACSCOC has granted HPU Level V status, which authorizes a university to award doctoral degrees.
The Wanek School of Natural Sciences
The Wanek School of Natural Sciences is a community of more than 450 scientist scholars in biology, biochemistry, chemistry, neuroscience and physics, with an average student-to-faculty ratio of 17 to 1. Its faculty are internationally recognized for published research and for their approach to undergraduate teaching.
The school sits on the Innovation Corridor, a half-mile stretch of campus dedicated to STEM that includes the Caine Conservatory, a 15,000-square-foot space with a classroom, working greenhouse and planting display.
NIH-Funded Research
The National Institutes of Health has continued its support for HPU research on antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with Dr. Heather Miller’s team awarded nearly $550,000 to continue the work. HPU’s first patent, announced in November 2024, covers loratadine and related small molecules as antibiotic adjuvants against MRSA, developed by Drs. Blackledge and Miller with undergraduate researchers.
Dreyfus Awards
Dr. Heather Miller received the Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2023, one of eight nationally and the first at HPU. Dr. Kelsey Kean received the Jean Dreyfus Lectureship in 2025.
High Point University Rankings
U.S. News & World Report’s Best Colleges 2027 ranks High Point University #1 for Most Innovative Schools and #3 for Best Undergraduate Teaching among Regional Universities in the South. HPU also ranks #1 in its category for Earnings by Major, a new U.S. News factor that measures what graduates earn four years after leaving campus.
The Princeton Review’s Best 392 Colleges: 2027 Edition ranks High Point University #3 for Best-Run Colleges, #3 for Best College Dorms and #3 for Most Beautiful Campus. HPU is the only university in North Carolina ranked in the top 5 for all three.
Niche’s 2027 rankings place High Point University #1 in North Carolina for Best College Campuses, Best College Dorms and Best College Food, and #8 in North Carolina for Colleges with the Best Professors.
Measured by National Association of Colleges and Employers standards, 99% of HPU’s Class of 2025 was employed or continuing their education within 180 days, 13 points above the national average.
Biochemistry Program Ranking
College Factual ranked High Point University #3 in its 2027 Best Biochemistry, Biophysics & Molecular Biology Schools in North Carolina list, which weighs graduation rates, earnings after graduation, affordability and program focus. HPU also ranks #7 in the Southeast Region.
Student Fellowships and Honors
In 2026, Jake Ankrum, a biochemistry and physics double major, was one of 454 students nationwide named a Barry Goldwater Scholar. Ankrum also became HPU’s first DAAD RISE scholar, conducting research at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg.
Owee Kirpekar received the 2025 Elizabeth Miller Strickland Trailblazer Award for antibiotic resistance research published in ACS Infectious Diseases. Robin Stempel was named a Rhodes Scholar finalist.
Biochemistry alumni Rebecca Ulrich and Brea Brown were named to HPU’s Top 10 Under 10. Ulrich, who earned a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, became a postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and received the American Chemical Society’s Irving S. Sigal Postdoctoral Fellowship. Brown is a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia.
Explore Biochemistry at High Point University
See the courses biochemistry majors take and where HPU biochemistry graduates go next.
Curriculum & Research Careers & Student Organizations
Questions about the program? Email Dr. Todd Knippenberg at [email protected].