Pepperdine University is a private institution that was founded in 1937. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 3,451, its setting is suburban, and the campus size is 830 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Pepperdine University's ranking in the 2016 edition of Best Colleges is National Universities, 52. Its tuition and fees are $48,342 (2015-16).
Squeezed in among the Santa Monica Mountain foothills, Pepperdine University is a Christian college known for its picturesque location in Malibu, Calif. The school upholds the New Testament-based traditions of the Churches of Christ. Students must attend 14 spiritual events a semester and take at least three religion courses during their time at Pepperdine. There is a Church of Christ on campus, as well as a handful of student-led ministries. Outside of church, the school’s sports teams, the Pepperdine Waves, compete in the Division I West Coast Conference. Students can also play club sports, such as lacrosse and a triathlon group, and a variety of intramural sports, from dodgeball to beach volleyball. Freshmen and sophomores must live in university housing on the dry campus, and student spiritual life leaders live in each residence hall. About 25 percent of students are active in more than a dozen sororities and fraternities, though there is no official Greek housing on campus.
In addition to its main campus in Malibu, Pepperdine University offers graduate courses at California campuses in Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Clara, Encino and Westlake Village. The school also has facilities in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina and Washington, D.C. Beverly Hills is 24 miles away and Disneyland is 54 miles away from Pepperdine’s Malibu campus. Los Angeles is about an hour’s drive away. The school has graduated dozens of top athletes, including baseball player Randy Wolf, golfer Jason Allred, basketball player Alex Acker and beach volleyball Olympic medalist Nicole Sanderson, among its many notable alumni.
