Accreditation for the B.S. in Neuroscience
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 Neuroscience offered by the Wanek School of Natural Sciences and the neuroscience minor.
From HPU Neuroscience to Medical and Graduate School
Medical schools, Ph.D. programs and research employers look for laboratory experience and presented work. HPU neuroscience students earn grants, internships and publications, present at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Works Symposium and at regional meetings such as the Symposium for Young Neuroscientists and Professors of the South East, and continue to medical schools including Penn State and Wake Forest.
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.
Faculty Research
All neuroscience faculty hold a Ph.D. and invite students into their own laboratories. Research topics include:
- Axon growth and branching
- Developmental neuroscience
- Molecular neuroscience
- Neural regeneration
- Neuroendocrine insect sensory systems
- Traumatic brain injury
Founding chair Dr. William Kochen is an associate editor of the Journal for Sports Neuroscience, the journal of the Society for Sports Neuroscience.
Funded Summer Research
Independent research is supported year-round, and funding is available for summer research internships.
Recognition for Undergraduate Research
The Council on Undergraduate Research named High Point University the recipient of its 2025 Campus-Wide Award for Undergraduate Research Accomplishments, and its announcement featured student research in Dr. Kochen’s neuroscience lab.
Neuroscience Program Ranking
College Factual ranked High Point University #6 in its 2027 Best Neurobiology & Neurosciences Schools in the Southeast Region list, which weighs graduation rates, earnings after graduation, affordability and program focus.
Student Research Honors
Faith Bradley, the first HPU student to attend the Society for Sports Neuroscience conference, won third prize for best poster and third prize for the one-minute talk. Lena Hetrick presented at the Society for Neuroscience 2024 meeting and interned at the University of Florida’s McKnight Brain Institute.
Emerson Heckler earned a full-tuition Dean’s Medical Excellence Scholarship to Wake Forest University School of Medicine. In 2025, Blake Horne (music and neuroscience) and Taylor Galavotti (English and neuroscience) received Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships to Taiwan and Timor-Leste.
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.
Neuroscience in the News
Emerson Heckler
HPU Graduate Receives Strickland Trailblazer Award
High Point University graduate Emerson Heckler of Mooresville, North Carolina, has been selected to receive the fourth annual Elizabeth Miller Strickland Trailblazer Award.
Explore Neuroscience at High Point University
See the courses neuroscience majors take and where HPU neuroscience graduates go next.
Curriculum & Research Careers & Student Organizations
Questions about the program? Email Dr. William Kochen at [email protected].