Money Spent on Education
Affluents tend to spend more on education. Households in the $200,000.00+ annual income bracket, on average, spend more than double the amount per year on educational expenses than the $150,000.00 to $199,999.00 group and more than triple that of the $100,000.00 to $149,999.00 bracket. (Source: e-Marketer.)
Many colleges are competing for tuition money by creating “country club” environments with water parks, rock climbing walls, and other luxury amenities. However, one university that truly understands luxury and getting a degree aren’t enough anymore is High Point University (HPU) in North Carolina.
My friend of many years, Nido Qubein, as its president has done a phenomenal, awe-inspiring, widely reported on job of transforming a small downscale college into an explosively growing, vibrant, robust, somewhat Disney®-fied showplace of academic excellence, creativity, and luxury.
Amid one of the worst economic disruptions in 50 years, HPU has experienced tremendous growth. Philanthropic investors are generously and eagerly resourcing HPU. Armed with over $300 million in gifts and pledges since Dr. Qubein took over in 2005, including 10 gifts of $10 million and more, the university built new facilities to accommodate residential students, new athletic buildings and fields to support 16 NCAA Division 1 sports, and expanded its campus from 92 to 430 acres. It has quadrupled its student population, tripled its faculty, attracting educators with accomplished credentials in large numbers, and attracted students from all 50 states and more than 55 countries.
One of the many things that distinguishes HPU from other universities is their emphasis on being the “premier life skills university.” Character development coupled with a highly visible mission that every student graduate with a growth and entrepreneurial mindset and confidence to overcome any obstacle that comes their way in the ever-changing, highly competitive world we live in is a message parents and students aren’t hearing anywhere else. HPU lives their tagline, “An extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people,” asking themselves the question for every aspect of how they can be more extraordinary, more inspiring, or more caring. They heavily promote that every student has a success coach and a four-year Development of Life Skills, which includes teaching the art of persuasion, effective communication, and other skills that help students stand out (96% of students are working or in graduate school within six months of graduating).
Another pillar is their emphasis on modeling values that resonate with the parents. From a recent issue of their magazine, Dr. Qubein’s words:
It’s true—HPU is a God, family, and country institution. Values are important to us. Generosity, gratitude, service, and patriotism, among others, are cherished here. But more importantly, they are modeled here. You can’t teach values. So, I remind faculty and staff that we live, students watch, and students learn.
Parents don’t want to pay a lot for a diploma, but they will spend a lot to transform their child into an independent adult who isn’t intimidated by life’s obstacles.
To demonstrate they can pull it off, Dr. Qubein’s accomplishments are highlighted front and center: an Ellis Island Medal of Honor winner, a nationally recognized speaker inducted into the National Speakers Hall of Fame, an author, an entrepreneur, a consultant to top corporations, and so on. Stories, testimonials, and interviews featuring faculty, students, parents, and community members are abundantly present.
Even if a student doesn’t want to be an entrepreneur, many of the parents are entrepreneurs, so the message resonates with them. Every student has a success coach. Students are guided by global leaders and innovators such as Marc Randolph, Netflix cofounder, and Steve Wozniak, Apple cofounder, in HPU’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence mentorship program.
The extraordinary environment is innovative, inspiring, and pristine. Statues of historical giants from Gandhi to Rosa Parks to Albert Einstein, inspirational quotes, and immaculate study areas are present throughout the campus. Extraordinary living extends to luxury residence halls with incredible amenities such as pools, basketball and volleyball courts, and even pet-friendly dorms. While the norm at most college campuses is that students desire to quickly move off campus, HPU students don’t want to leave, not even seniors. Ninety-three percent of students live on campus as compared to 40 percent that most colleges experience. There are upgraded housing options available, with tiered pricing too.
Of course, Dr. Qubein’s professional and personal growth books are used in direct-marketing efforts. They’ve found that parents read and share these books. They are seen in the places where affluent, entrepreneurial parents hang out. For example, their magazine is in the terminal of every private airport—a place where they are isolated from other college materials. The magazine is really a catalog about growth mindset, life skills, entrepreneurial mindsets—the things influencers are attracted to, so even if they don’t have teens ready for college, they will talk about HPU with their friends who might be sending a kid off to college. They also polybag the magazine in the Business Journal occasionally in cities with business influencers, and consistently in North Carolina. The strategy is to be readily known and recognized by affluents in the community. That way when a wealthy friend from Boston has a kid interested in going to HPU and calls up their wealthy friend in North Carolina to find out about HPU, the North Carolinian knows and readily endorses it.
Checking out a copy of the HPU magazine is a worthwhile exercise. See it online at http://www.highpoint.edu/magazine/2018/05/16/high-point-university-magazine-spring-2018/.
High Point University, www.Highpoint.edu