news-record.com

HIGH POINT — The economic downturn has wounded higher education, leading to layoffs and halting construction at public and private colleges alike.

But someone forgot to tell Nido Qubein.

As president of High Point University, Qubein is still crowing about his school’s growth while preparing to unveil $100 million worth of new buildings in the fall.

“The numbers we’re looking at right now, in terms of our growth, are phenomenal,” Qubein said after the school’s board of trustees meeting Wednesday.

HPU has hired 35 faculty and staff members so far this year and has plans to hire 60 more before August. The school is predicting 2,300 students on campus next year, up from 1,900 this year.

The school isn’t immune to the nationwide financial troubles. Market turbulence has taken a 30 percent bite out of the school’s endowment, Qubein said. That works out to about $16 million.

But only about 1 percent of that endowment is used for operational costs, Qubein said, compared to up to 25 percent at some private schools. That puts HPU in a more secure position and doesn’t compromise short-term goals.

The school’s continued growth has cost a quarter of a billion dollars in the past two years, but it’s been funded mostly by aggressive fund-raising.

Qubein, a millionaire businessman who heads Great Harvest Bread Co., has helped raise more than $108 million for the school since taking office four years ago.

Much of the money came from donors he was able to tap through his personal and business relationships and from corporate donations. Going into the financial crisis that healthy helped a lot, Qubein said.

Though donors aren’t as numerous now as they were before the financial downturn, the school has still raised $11 million since May of last year.

That’s enough to inspire confidence and push through the tough times, Qubein said.

“When I came to High Point University, I came here for a purpose,” Qubein said. “The board of trustees wanted to take the school into the extraordinary zone in academics and reputation. And we’re doing that. We’ll continue to do it.”

Much has been made of the school’s physical makeover under Qubein. The campus has grown from 90 to 150 acres with 1 million square feet of new space and another 1 million renovated. More than $20 million has been spent on new technology in the past two years alone.

But the school wasn’t voted first among up-and-coming schools by U.S. News & World Report because of its pretty new fountains, Qubein said. The school will unveil its new $60 million University Center this fall — complete with steakhouse and movie theater. But it’s also opening the Plato Wilson School of Commerce and Nido R. Qubein School of Communication.

“There’s been just a tremendous transformation,” said High Point City Councilman Mike Pugh.

Pugh said he isn’t surprised the school continues to thrive in a bad economy. Students continue to be attracted to it not just for its campus, he said, but because of the solid academics for which the school’s become known.

“Three years ago the average SAT scores of our incoming freshman was 1000,” Qubein said. “It is now 1080. That is an incredible improvement in three years. We’re doing something right here.”

Applications and deposits from returning students are both up about 17 percent over last year, Qubein said. And the school has budgeted $10 million for scholarships to help students pay the $33,400 for tuition, room and board.

“It’s a rough time right now economically, and we’ve looked at the worst-case scenarios,” Qubein said. “But we’ve situated ourselves well and the future is quite bright.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com