HPU welcomes Class of 2019 to campus
Convocation is a time-honored tradition at HPU in which the incoming freshman class is welcomed by university officials. Photo by: highpoint.edu
By Hannah Corwin, Staff Writer
As HPU has grown, so too have the class sizes. The class of 2019 is one of the largest classes HPU has ever seen. There are 1,450 students moving in today. That’s the same number of total students that were enrolled in 2005. In the 10 years since Dr. Qubein has been president, the number of undergradauate students enrolled at High Point University has gone from 1,450 to around 4,400.
The number of incoming freshmen isn’t the only statistic that has been raised. The number of applications the university had received has accelerated from 7,800 applicants to 11,000 in the last year alone.
The incoming Class of 2019 is bringing many abilities to HPU. According to Andy Bills, the vice president of admissions, HPU’s new freshman SAT scores are collectively higher than they have been in previous years. Not only that, but our freshmen represent one of the strongest academic classes in HPU’s history.
The incoming freshmen also represent 42 different states, as well as 14 countries, which include Belgium, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Spain, China, Ghana, South Africa, Switzerland, The United Kingdom, Colombia, Brazil and Guatemala. The total population of HPU students, from new freshmen to returning seniors, is now comprised of people from 48 states and 37 countries.
In order to keep up with the growing student population at HPU, 42 new faculty members will be joining the HPU family. This will bring the total number of faculty members up to 285, a considerable growth from the 108 faculty members the university staffed in 2005.
“We know HPU is on an extraordinary trajectory of purposeful academic growth, and the next decade will be amazing,” Qubein said.