HPU Named #1 Best-Run College in the Nation by The Princeton Review for Second Consecutive Year
HPU also earned top rankings for College Dorms, Career Services, Most Beautiful Campus and more.
HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 12, 2025 – For the second consecutive year, High Point University has been named the #1 Best-Run College in the nation by The Princeton Review. The top ranking comes at an exciting time for HPU as it prepares to welcome a record enrollment this fall and break ground on a new $100-million library later this month.
HPU has earned the distinction of being ranked in more national categories than any other school in North Carolina in The Princeton Review’s “Best 391 Colleges: 2026 Edition.” The university received high marks in 12 categories, including #2 for Best College Dorms and #9 for Best Career Services.
HPU is regularly ranked on several of the publication’s Top 20 national ranking lists, but the university received more accolades this year than ever before, including:
- #1 Best-Run College
- #2 Best College Dorms (up from #6 in 2025)
- #6 Most Active Student Government Association
- #9 Best Career Services (for the second year in a row)
- #10 Most Beautiful Campus (up from #18 in 2025)
- #16 Best Campus Food (up from #18 in 2025)
- #17 Best Student Support and Counseling Services (up from #24 in 2025)
- #18 Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
- #20 Best College Theatre
- #22 Best Athletic Facilities
- #24 Their Students Love These Colleges
HPU is also ranked as A Great School for Business Majors and A Great School for Communication Majors.
“HPU faculty and staff are committed to preparing our students for the world as it is going to be, as evidenced by the success of our graduates,” says HPU President Nido Qubein. “The multiple rankings by The Princeton Review are a wonderful acknowledgement of our team. We remain focused on the life skills development and values-based education that is so impactful in the lives of each and every one of our students.”
Fun Facts
HPU is the only North Carolina school to be ranked in the Top 10 nationally for Best-Run College, Best College Dorms, Career Services and Most Active Student Government Association. The university is also once again included in The Princeton Review’s “Best South” list.
HPU is one of only two schools in North Carolina to be included in The Princeton Review’s Best-Run Colleges list. The recognition comes only a few days before Qubein starts his 22nd academic year as HPU’s president, making him North Carolina’s long-serving active college president.
This is the ninth consecutive year HPU has been named one of the top schools in the nation by The Princeton Review rankings, which are based, in part, on responses from students. The university also appears in several national categories that reflect a positive and healthy environment for students, including #18 on the Everyone Plays Intramural Sports list and #24 for Their Students Love These Colleges list.
A Banner Year for HPU
HPU is expected to welcome its largest student total enrollment in school history this fall, surpassing last year’s mark of 6,335 students. The university also anticipates having a record number of new students when classes begin on Aug. 18.
HPU has continued to earn national accolades. In June, HPU was named a College of Distinction for the 2025-26 academic year, marking the 15th consecutive year that the university was recognized for its strong commitment to providing students with a transformative undergraduate experience. HPU received honors in several categories on the Colleges of Distinction list, including Career Development, Business, Education and colleges of North Carolina.
Five HPU graduates were awarded scholarships from the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Student Program to teach English and earn master’s degrees abroad during the 2025-26 academic year. It marks the highest number of Fulbright recipients from HPU in a single year, surpassing last year’s mark of three award winners.
In addition, HPU will open its two newest academic buildings on campus in September. Construction is almost complete on a pair of three-story, 77,500-square-foot facilities that will be the permanent homes for the Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law and the Workman School of Dental Medicine. Both schools welcomed their second cohort of students this fall.
