HPU Welcomes Record Number of New Students and Largest Total Enrollment to Campus

HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 16, 2025 – High Point University’s campus is buzzing with excitement and live music this weekend as hundreds of faculty, staff and student volunteers welcomed new students to campus for the start of the 2025-26 academic year.

 These new students represent a banner year for HPU that includes:

• Welcoming the largest total enrollment in the university’s 100-year history with 6,550 students this fall
• Welcoming a record number of new students, who come to HPU from 46 states and 32 countries
• Opening HPU’s two newest academic buildings, which will serve as the permanent homes for the Kenneth F. Kahn School of Law and the Workman School of Dental Medicine
• Breaking ground on HPU’s new four-story, 150,000-square-foot Charman Library, which is expected to be completed in 2027

As is tradition, volunteers swiftly unloaded vehicles and helped move new students into their residence halls while the HPU Marching Panthers band performed for the Class of 2029. The process made move-in seamless for HPU’s newest family members on Friday and today.

The celebration will continue with Opening Convocation at 9 a.m. Sunday when HPU President Nido Qubein will lead the keynote address inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. He greeted new students and their families as they made their way through campus and pulled up to their residence halls. He also thanked current students for volunteering their time to help during Move-In Weekend.

“Look at this place. People are coming from all over the world,” Qubein said. “Parents are entrusting their children to High Point University because we are a God, family and country school, and we are focused on Premier Life Skills, graduate outcomes and responsiveness to families. We’re the only school in North Carolina growing like we are with double-digit growth in the freshman class, and we weren’t even trying to do that. The people want to have their children at a university that will give them an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.”

$7.18 Million Economic Boost for the City

HPU’s Move-In Weekend is expected to bring 22,000 people to campus and the city of High Point, creating approximately $7.18 million in local economic impact, according to Visit High Point. Restaurants, hotels and shops are busier thanks to the influx of families visiting the area to move their students onto campus.

“Move-In Weekend is an impactful boost to our local economy as 22,000 visitors generate an estimated $7.18 million of economic impact in our city and surrounding communities,” said Melody Burnett, president of Visit High Point. “Our area businesses are rejoicing in this homecoming as HPU students and families are valued customers. Local hotels, restaurants and retail will have a banner weekend.”

Overheard at HPU Move-In Day

Below are some reactions from HPU freshmen and their parents throughout Move-In Weekend.

“This is the first college I visited and the first place where it felt like home,” said Zoe Cattran, a business administration major from St. Petersburg, Florida. “I feel like I belong here. It was my #1 pick after visiting here. I visited other colleges, but I never wavered.”

Emma Moore, an exercise science major from Danville, Virginia, was equally adamant about her decision to attend HPU.

“I loved everything about it,” she said. “It’s the only place that I loved.”

Her father, Joey Moore, was quick to add, “It’s the only place she applied.”

After Ana Schauer’s father drove through the night from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, the family expressed her excitement about what is ahead for her at HPU.

“I wanted to come here because I really like what they had to offer,” Schauer said. “I like that it’s a life skills college, which is very helpful for my future. I like that there’s a lot to do around here. Also, it’s a beautiful campus. I’m really excited to meet new people and build connections.”

Heloise Richer and her parents traveled from Switzerland to HPU after her high school counselor recommended it as a small, family-oriented school that would be a good fit for her.

“She told me you will feel like it is meant to be, and she was right. I already feel at home. It’s amazing,” said Richer, a hospitality major and among the nearly three-dozen new students who come to HPU this fall from outside the United States. “We live in Switzerland, which is known for hospitality. I want to do a job that is warm and welcoming.”

“She is a Presidential Scholar, and we’re so proud,” her mother Emilie Richer said. “We love everything here. It’s a great place.”

Phoebe Carlson moved into her dorm room on Friday with her parents, Bud and Julie. The family is from St. Louis, Missouri.

“When I visited, everyone was so welcoming to me and so nice even before I had gotten into HPU,” Phoebe said. “Everyone from my admissions counselor to my Success Coach was so helpful through the process and so nice. That’s what showed me this was the right place for me. I’m excited to join clubs, make friends and for this new chapter.”

“As mother of an only child, you can be sure I did tons and tons of research,” said Phoebe’s mother, Julie. “I found HPU through that research, and eventually I knew she belonged here. The campus is beautiful and safe, and HPU has the criminal justice major that is important to her. The program has a lot of connections. Then when we visited, we all just knew there was no other choice. From my observations of Dr. Qubein, the whole staff and the God, family, country values, which are important to me, I knew I was going to be so happy for her to be here.”

Many parents on campus this weekend moved in their second or third student, including Ava Brooke Pleasants of Woodbine, Maryland, whose older brother Will graduated in May and is now enrolled in HPU’s communication and business leadership graduate program.

“I have family here, I love the campus, and they have a really good interior design program,” she said. “I only wanted to go to High Point University. If I didn’t go to HPU, I wasn’t going to go to college. I hope to just meet a ton of new people and make connections.”

Navada Pleasants, Ava’s mother, said it made sense for her daughter to attend HPU, especially since Ava’s favorite thing to do when the family would visit her brother in college was go to Furnitureland South, which is the world’s largest furniture store and located only a few miles from HPU’s campus.

Nathan Scala, a communications and sports media major from Warren, New Jersey, said he stumbled across HPU by accident. He had received information from the university and decided to visit last year.

“We checked it out, and I fell in love with it,” Scala said. “I was looking for a school that was about this size and had the major I wanted. It’s gorgeous. It was a lucky chance. I knew High Point University was my #1, so instead of worrying about it, I knew if I went early decision, it would make my senior year more stress-free.”

Zander Hertz, a media production major from Miami, Florida, had a similar experience.

“The moment I came here, I fell in love with everything about it,” he said. “There’s no place like home.”

His mother Jana Hertz said he had offers and a lot of great opportunities from other schools, but HPU just resonated with him.

“I found out about HPU through a friend, a junior who goes here, and looked into it online,” said Danielle Kruk, a dance major from Sarasota, Florida. “I saw the dance team, and I look forward to trying out for that. I also saw the criminology lab, and that’s another thing I want to go into. I’m going to look into double majoring in dance and criminal justice. And I wanted to go out of state. This is the best place for me. Everyone is so nice.”

Ellie Viola, a nursing major from Charleston, South Carolina, said she fell in love with HPU after touring campus.

“After that, nothing else compared,” said Viola, who hopes to learn more about oncology because of her mother’s experience and get involved in activities on campus.

“I love the community and the smaller class sizes, and it just feels like home,” said Ella Nelson of Fort Myers, Florida. She is considering a major in cybersecurity or the law track but is undecided. “I love how they have peer mentors here and the Experts in Residence. That gives us a lot of opportunities to learn more about their spaces, what they went through and how to get there.”

Rachel Haueisen, a business major from North Palm Beach, Florida, said she had considered many other colleges but fell in love with HPU. “I knew High Point University was going to be where I wanted to go,” she said.

Hannah Herman started physical therapy after suffering an injury with her competition dance team in Roswell, Georgia. As unfortunate as the injury was, it led her to pursue an exercise science major and a dance minor at HPU.

“I wound up doing physical therapy and found a passion for it, so I want to do physical therapy for professional athletes,” Herman said. “I picked HPU when I saw the exercise science building and so many things I wanted to try out. I came for Instant Decision Day and honestly, I just fell in love. When I opened that letter, I said this is it for me. The Human Biometrics Lab in the Congdon School of Health Sciences was one of the things I fell in love with. I’m excited to meet new people and make new friends. I’m doing an internship with the strength and conditioning team. This semester, I’m working with the men’s golf, soccer and baseball teams and the women’s soccer and volleyball teams.”

Sarah Temu, an elementary education major from Westminster, Colorado, was attracted by HPU’s beautiful campus. After her first visit, she had made up her mind.

“I just think there was no other place,” she said. “I’m really excited for learning and classes. I really love kids. I worked at a day care during high school, and I just wanted to continue that in college.”