by our College Data Analytics TeamA lot of students are not billed the full, advertised sticker price of a school. Instead, they will be given a financial aid offer that will include a combination of scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study. The total price of attendance at Pepperdine University can feel overpowering, but remember that the majority of students receive some sort of financial assistance.
Just what financial aid solutions can Pepperdine provide, and just what are you going to be eligible for? Keep reading for answers. Keep going to learn what amount of financial assistance will be accessible to you.
The amount of financial aid and scholarships you are eligible for will vary depending on your family’s income. The figures below will help you estimate the aid you might receive from Pepperdine University.
Financial assistance, available as scholarships, loans, and work-study, is a way schools lower the price of attendance so many students can enroll. Bear in mind that not all aid is equal, and the amount any one student receives can vary widely.
For incoming first-year students at Pepperdine University, 94% of new full-time first-years were awarded at least some aid approximately 686 first-years).
| Type of Aid | % of Freshmen Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 91% | $26,927 |
| Institutional grants & scholarships | 90% | $23,920 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,943 |
| State/local grants | 17% | $8,556 |
| Federal student loans | 38% | $5,257 |
The best aid is gift aid: grants and scholarships that carry no repayment obligation. At Pepperdine, around 90% of the undergraduate population received grant aid that averaged $34,751 (for some 3251 students).
| Award | % of Undergrads Receiving | Average Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Grant or scholarship aid (all sources) | 90% | $34,751 |
| Federal Pell grants | 20% | $5,563 |
| Federal student loans | 37% | $6,494 |
On-campus students receiving title-IV aid were awarded grants averaging $35,414.
The figures below show the average net price — cost after all grant and scholarship aid — broken out by family income.
| Family Income | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| $0 – $48,000 | $37,022 |
| $30,001 – $75,000 | $39,319 |
| Over $75,000 | $50,174 |
Remember these are net prices — what families pay after gift aid, not before.
The net price strips out grant and scholarship aid from the sticker price to show roughly what families really pay.
| Cohort | Average Net Price |
|---|---|
| On-campus title-IV students | $58,098 |
| Off-campus title-IV students | $45,409 |
For an estimate tailored to your family circumstances, see Pepperdine’s NPC: seaver.pepperdine.edu/admission/financial-aid/undergraduate/npc.
A typical borrower at Pepperdine leaves with $19,500 of federal student loans.
| Metric | Amount |
|---|---|
| Median federal debt (all student-aid borrowers) | $19,500 |
| Median federal debt (graduates only) | $23,510 |
| Typical 10-year monthly payment (graduates) | $249.25/mo |
At a typical 10-year repayment schedule, the median graduate would pay about the monthly figure above.
The numbers below show the full range, not just the middle of the distribution. The four reference points below map the debt distribution at 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 figures below break down median federal debt by income tier, first-generation status, and dependency.
Debt by Income Tier
| Income tier | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Low income | $21,975 |
| Middle income | $20,500 |
| High income | $19,500 |
By First-Generation Status
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| First-generation students | $20,500 |
| Continuing-generation students | $19,500 |
Dependency-Status Comparison
| Cohort | Median federal debt |
|---|---|
| Dependent students | $19,500 |
| Independent students | $35,027 |
Federal data publishes pre-calculated indicators that summarize debt outcomes. Pepperdine.
Most undergraduate borrowing runs through the federal Stafford loan program. The annual Stafford volume below reflects program activity at Pepperdine:
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Stafford loan recipients | 29325 |
| Total Stafford loan amount | $1,193,997,187 |
The GI Bill and DoD Tuition Assistance are the main federal aid routes for veterans and service members.
Post-9/11 GI Bill recipients
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| GI Bill recipients | 165 |
| Total GI Bill amount | $1,816,727 |
| Average GI Bill amount per recipient | $11,010 |
References
More about our data sources and methodologies.