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HIGH POINT — When High Point University’s new $70 million student center opens today , it will be a perfect marker on the school’s road from small private school to fast-growing blue-chip university.

The High Point University Center will be part residence, part study center, part dining destination.

The facility, home to 530 students , includes a full-floor study commons, a movie theater, sports grill and the 1924 Prime Steakhouse .

University President Nido Qubein said the new facility is certainly beautiful, but its real value is beneath the surface.

“Students now can have in one place everything they need — a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to study and a place to have friendships, dialogue and discussions,” Qubein said. “That’s important for a university where we’ve gone from 900 to 2,500 students living on campus.”

Qubein said the center isn’t meant to spoil students — it’s meant to enhance their education.

The most obvious example is the center’s third floor, the entirety of which will be an “academic commons,” 7,000 square feet of study space open and staffed 24 hours , and equipped with computers and reference materials.

Qubein said even the 1924 Prime Steakhouse, named for the year the school was founded, is more than just fine dining.

“We want our students to be prepared for a life filled with success and significance,” he said. “We don’t want them to get out into the business world, on interviews or in the workplace, without ever having experienced this sort of dining. We want them to learn here the proper behavior and protocol.”

The restaurant is meant to stretch students’ concept of dinner beyond the pizza box. Qubein said students will have to make reservations, dress appropriately and allow a solid 90 minutes for dinner.

“We don’t do these things simply because they’re nice or pretty,” he said. “We do them to instill values. We can’t teach values, but we can model them. And we’re trying to model values here every day.”

Other areas in the student center are more entertainment-centered, including The Point Sports Restaurant , which includes an interactive sports gaming center. The center’s gaming area includes NASCAR simulators and sofas and soft chairs where students can watch TV or play games on Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo Wii systems connected to

52-inch televisions.

The 200-seat theater will be available for use by professors who want to show films but also can be used for student activities.

Because studies show students living on campus perform better and graduate more quickly, HPU requires students to live on campus from their freshman to their junior years. But 80 percent of the school’s seniors elect to stay on campus as well, Qubein said.

The new center will help build that on-campus community — but it also will help encourage students to keep their studies on track, Qubein said.

“We want our students to study in a beautiful place, to have nice places to eat, to meet friends to socialize,” he said. “But they realize that this is all based on their academic successes. If they don’t pass, they can’t stay at High Point University.”

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