Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA
U.S. News 2026 National Universities rank: #84
Pepperdine is a private university in Malibu, California, founded in 1937 by retailer George Pepperdine and affiliated with the Churches of Christ; that heritage still shows up in a required religion course and a visible campus faith culture, though students of all backgrounds attend. Undergraduates enroll in Seaver College, a liberal arts school of about 3,500 students perched on an 830-acre bluff above the Pacific, roughly 29 miles from downtown Los Angeles. Business, communication, and psychology are the most popular majors among 45 undergraduate programs. The defining feature is study abroad: Pepperdine owns residential campuses in Buenos Aires, Florence, Heidelberg, Lausanne, London, and Washington, D.C., and the university reports that about 95 percent of Seaver students study abroad at some point, one of the highest participation rates in the country. All new students are required to live on campus with a meal plan for their first two years, reinforcing a small, tight-knit community feel reflected in a 12-to-1 student-faculty ratio. The setting is quiet rather than urban; Pepperdine suits a student who wants ocean views, small classes, a faith-oriented community, and easy access to Los Angeles without living in it, more than one looking for a dense college-town or big-city social scene.
Key figures
- Acceptance Rate (Overall): 62.9%
- Average Net Price (Federal Aid Recipients): $58,098
- 6-Year Graduation Rate: 83.4%
- Median Starting Salary: $49,653
- Total Undergraduate Enrollment: 3,553
- SAT Middle 50% (composite midpoint): 1384
- Student-to-Faculty Ratio: 12