HPU'S SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN: DESIGNING YOUR DESTINY.

• Position: EXTRAORDINARY EDUCATION

Beyond Norton Hall's third-floor atrium, inside studio walls painted canary yellow, HPU students create around the clock.

As hours feel like minutes, they work on projects. Their classmates become friends, their professors become mentors, and their dreams become real.

They're the artists, the designers, the students of HPU's School of Art and Design.

They embrace what their dean, Dr. John Turpin, believes: Creativity is the touchstone of the human experience, and a degree in art and design molds students into innovative problem solvers invaluable in today's global economy.

So, they stay busy.

They study abroad in cities like Paris and Florence, Italy. They intern at the world's biggest furniture market a five-minute drive from campus, and they connect with some of the world's most well-known creators both in High Point and in New York City.

They take classes from Allan Beaver, HPU artist-in-residence, an award-winning designer who has worked on memorable campaigns for Subaru and Matchbox Toys. He teaches his students in an HPU studio ringed with quotes like, "Design is intelligence made visible."

By graduation, they know what's visible.

Their future. And an entrepreneurial spirit all their own.

HPU's World-Class Reach

Eight floors above Manhattan and a 10-minute walk from the Empire State Building, Kim Greve works as an interior designer for Ageloff and Associates, a high-end interior design firm.

She worked there first as an intern. She's now an employee. That wasn't luck.

She spent five months at the Lorenzo de' Medici Institute in Florence, Italy, during her junior year and studied art history, lighting design and Italian. She visited nine different countries and discovered culture, architecture and design that opened her eyes.

She worked the High Point Market six times and interned with Century Furniture and Corinthian Furniture, where she helped set up showrooms and work with interior designers.

Her experience caught the attention of Scott Ageloff, the firm's founder. He has had three HPU interns work for his firm, and Greve was hired as a full-time employee.

It's no coincidence.

He sees HPU students as disciplined critical thinkers who communicate well with clients, work well in teams and know about the world and the culture at large. That, he says, is crucial in his business--and business in general.

"Ever since we've had our first intern, I've felt that those are the kind of attributes students and graduates from High Point bring to...