by our College Data Analytics TeamThis page focuses on the debt students take on to attend Pepperdine University: median debt, the percentile spread, total borrowing including PLUS loans, and the cost to repay. All figures come from the U.S. Department of Education and IPEDS.
Looking at the entering class at Pepperdine, 41% of first-year students take on loan debt, borrowing on average $11,074 each, across private and federal loan sources.
Federal loans alone average $5,257, or about 95.6% of the typical first-year dependent student borrowing cap of $5,500. Remember the all-undergraduate figures below leave out private loans, so they will look lower than this private-plus-federal freshman amount.
Counting every undergraduate at Pepperdine, 37% borrow through federal student loan programs, borrowing on average $6,494 each per year. It comes to 23.5% more than the $5,257 freshmen take on.
Borrowing the same amount each year would add up to roughly $12,988 in two years and roughly $25,976 after four. The estimate holds federal borrowing constant and does not count private or Parent PLUS loans.
| Undergraduate federal borrowing | Value |
|---|---|
| Share using federal loans | 37% |
| Average federal loan per year | $6,494 |
| Undergraduates with a federal loan | 1,354 |
| Total federal loans (one year) | $8,792,439 |
Graduating and withdrawing students at Pepperdine carry a median federal debt of $19,500 in federal student loans.
| Borrower group | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| All federal borrowers | $19,500 |
| Students who completed (graduates) | $23,510 |
| Students who withdrew | $9,250 |
Withdrawn-student debt matters because those borrowers carry the loans without the degree that helps repay them.
Half of all borrowers fall between the 25th and 75th percentiles shown below for Pepperdine.
| Percentile | Cumulative Federal Debt |
|---|---|
| 10th percentile (lowest-debt students) | $5,529 |
| 25th percentile | $13,250 |
| 75th percentile | $31,023 |
| 90th percentile (highest-debt students) | $42,625 |
The gap between the 10th and 90th percentile is the clearest single measure of how widely borrowing varies at Pepperdine.
Median federal debt understates the full cost when PLUS loans are included. The totals below add PLUS borrowing for Pepperdine.
| Group | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| All borrowers | 1278 | $36,016 |
| Completed (graduates) | 872 | $41,309 |
| Did not complete | 406 | $30,090 |
For students who completed, the median total debt including PLUS loans works out to a standard 10-year payment of about $491.21/mo.
Federal data lets us separate Stafford borrowers from the rest at Pepperdine.
Stafford vs Non-Stafford (any year)
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Used a Stafford loan | 1259 | $36,500 |
| No Stafford loan | 19 | $16,051 |
Stafford This Year vs Not
| Cohort | Borrowers | Median debt incl. PLUS |
|---|---|---|
| Stafford loan this year | 1172 | $39,339 |
| No Stafford loan this year | 106 | $19,806 |
The indicators below describe what the typical debt costs to pay back at Pepperdine.
Defaulting means failing to repay a federal student loan, which carries serious credit consequences. The official Department of Education two-year default rate for Pepperdine follows.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| 2-year cohort default rate | 1.3% |
| Borrowers in the cohort | 1976 |
A lower default rate generally signals that graduates earn enough to manage their loan payments.
The breakdowns below show median federal debt by income, first-generation status, and dependency.
By Family Income
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,975 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $19,500 |
First-Gen vs Continuing-Gen Borrowing
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
By Dependency Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $35,027 |
These pre-calculated indicators summarize the borrowing gaps between cohorts at Pepperdine.
The Difference Between Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans
With an unsubsidized loan, interest starts adding up the day the loan is disbursed, including during school. Subsidized loans, by contrast, do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time, which makes them the less expensive option when you qualify.
Worth Knowing
Federal student loans are not discharged in bankruptcy in all but the rarest cases, and the government can withhold part of your income or tax refund if you default.
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.