Pepperdine vs Stanford

Pepperdine University and Stanford University, two prestigious institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. Pepperdine, a private Christian university in Malibu, California, boasts a lower acceptance rate (32%) compared to Stanford's highly selective admissions (5%). While Stanford's student body is more diverse, Pepperdine's smaller size fosters a close-knit community. Both universities excel in academics, with popular majors like Computer Science and Engineering at Stanford and Business and Psychology at Pepperdine. Stanford's higher graduation rate (95%) reflects its commitment to student success. Explore our comprehensive comparison table to discover more key differences and make an informed decision about your academic journey.

	Pepperdine University	Stanford University
Overview
Location	Malibu, California	Stanford, California
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	Quarter
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	93.0%	98.0%
Common app member	Yes	No
Religious affiliation	Churches of Christ

Admission
Acceptance rate	52.7%	3.9%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65	Undergraduate: $90 Graduate: $125
SAT range	1260 - 1440	1470 - 1570
ACT range	25 - 30	34 - 35
Students submitting SAT score	19.0%	15.0%
Students submitting ACT score	3.0%	11.0%
Total number of applicants	11,855	55,471
Total number of admissions given out	6,249	2,190
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,024	1,757
Yield rate	16.4%	80.2%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Not required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,152	$78,898
Average net price	$40,945	$14,402
Tuition	$59,450	$55,473
Room & board	$16,700	Room/dormitory: $11,166 Meal plan: $6,694
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	96.0% Average amount $36,967	61.0% Average amount $56,211
Students receiving federal student loan	38.0% Average amount $5,171	5.0% Average amount $5,151
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $12,899	1.0% Average amount $17,186

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	3,708 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%	7,645 Men 49.4% Women 50.6%
Graduate students	6,738 Men 30.2% Women 69.8%	10,035 Men 56.5% Women 43.5%
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	46.9%	58.5%
International students	8.3%	24.4%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Suburb: Large
Dormitory capacity	2,579	14,621
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Texas Washington Colorado Arizona	California Texas Washington New York Illinois

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Psychology Legal Profession Education Multidisciplinary Studies	Engineering Computer and Information Science Business Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	5:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	83.0%	95.5%
Dropout rate	16.6%	1.7%
Transferred out	N/A	0.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $100,699 Year 2: $92,733 Year 3: $106,087 Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $64,518 Year 2: $74,576 Year 3: $93,293 Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $97,829 Year 2: $96,691 Year 3: $91,701 Law (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $66,898 Year 2: $71,015 Year 3: $90,146 Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $59,350 Year 2: $62,508 Year 3: $75,589 Public Policy Analysis (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $49,825 Year 2: $57,318 Year 3: $71,546 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $53,559 Year 2: $57,770 Year 3: $70,082 International Business (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,228 Year 2: $58,673 Year 3: $65,821 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $51,799 Year 2: $47,260 Year 3: $58,854 Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,780 Year 2: $46,156 Year 3: $56,663	Law (First Professional Degrees) Year 1: $151,574 Year 2: $170,457 Year 3: $210,837 Computer Science (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $159,729 Year 2: $168,942 Year 3: $203,193 Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $164,734 Year 2: $163,337 Year 3: $187,054 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Doctoral Degrees) Year 1: $137,457 Year 2: $150,874 Year 3: $173,548 Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $136,126 Year 2: $136,499 Year 3: $165,375 Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $128,556 Year 2: $135,709 Year 3: $157,500 Engineering-Related Fields (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $123,354 Year 2: $106,421 Year 3: $139,234 Mechanical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $105,326 Year 2: $111,435 Year 3: $126,185 Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering (Master's Degrees) Year 1: $108,457 Year 2: $90,856 Year 3: $107,477 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,475 Year 2: $85,391 Year 3: $104,592

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Pepperdine vs Stanford

Pepperdine University

Stanford University

Overview

Admission

Tuition and Fees

Financial Aid

Students and Campus

Academics

Outcome

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