Admissions & selectivity
Pepperdine University Acceptance Rate & Admissions
What is the acceptance rate at Pepperdine University?
Pepperdine University’s reported acceptance rate is 62.9%.
- Acceptance rate · Fall 2024
- 62.9%
Source: College Scorecard · Fall 2024 admissions. Acceptance rates can change from year to year; this figure does not predict the current or next admission cycle.
Source: Pepperdine University Common Data Set 2025-26, C1 · first-time, first-year students.
How to interpret the acceptance rate
Pepperdine University admits 62.9% of applicants, a rate that sits below the median of 71.2% for comparable institutions (same type and size). In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 13,445 applicants and 9,331 admitted students.
What SAT and ACT scores do enrolled Pepperdine University students report?
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, Pepperdine University reported that 17% of its entering class submitted SAT scores. The middle half of those SAT submitters scored from 1240 to 1410.
Among the 8% who submitted ACT scores, the middle half scored from 28 to 32. Far more of the entering class submitted SAT scores than ACT scores, so the SAT range describes more of the class.
The ranges below describe enrolled students who submitted test scores at Pepperdine University. Use them as academic context, then check the university’s current testing policy for your application cycle.
17% of entering students submitted SAT scores
- 25th percentile
- 1240
- Median
- 1340
- 75th percentile
- 1410
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
8% of entering students submitted ACT scores
- 25th percentile
- 28
- Median
- 30
- 75th percentile
- 32
CDS 2025-26 · enrolled first-year score submitters. This range is not an admission cutoff.
Source: Pepperdine University Common Data Set 2025-26, C9 · Enrolled first-time, first-year score submitters.
Who enrolls at Pepperdine University?
- Pell Grant recipients
- 20.3%
- Entering students outside the first-time, full-time group
- 9.5%
- First-year retention
- 87.6%
Retention source: College Scorecard; full-time first-year retention.
About these student measures
The entering-student group includes part-time entrants as well as other attendance patterns.
Pepperdine University enrolls 3,553 undergraduates, a student body that includes Pell Grant recipients and a smaller estimated transfer population. 20.2% of undergraduates receive Pell Grants, and an estimated 9.5% arrive as transfers or part-time students, so the campus is shaped primarily by students who begin here as first-year entrants.
In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported 842 degree-seeking transfer applicants, 466 admitted, and 133 enrolled. Pell-eligible applicants can use the cost calculator to estimate their own grant-adjusted price, and transfer applicants should confirm how their credits will apply.
Students who start at Pepperdine University tend to finish. The six-year graduation rate for the first-time, full-time cohort is 83.4%, well above the 68.8% median for comparable institutions (same type and size).
First-year retention is also strong at 87.6%, against a peer median of 83.4%. Pell Grant recipients complete at a rate that slightly exceeds the overall figure.
Their six-year rate is 84.8%, which is 1.4 percentage points above the rate for the entering cohort as a whole. In its 2025-26 Common Data Set, the university reported a six-year graduation rate of 78.0% for the first-time, full-time fall 2019 entering class.
Pell recipients in that cohort completed at 75.0%. The university also reported that 83% of the first-time, full-time fall 2024 entering class returned for a second year.
Data & methodology
Sources and reporting periods: methodology.
Analysis and methodology by Daniel Rogers, founder of College Azimuth.
Explanatory text is AI-assisted drafting checked against those figures; it is not an additional data source.
Admission rates describe past applicants, not an individual’s chance of admission; confirm requirements and deadlines with the institution.
Figure notes link to sources and limitations. About College Azimuth.