Views from Stauffer Chapel
Seaver College is Beautiful
Outstanding Biology Department
Great Books Colloquium
Superb Study Abroad Program
Usually, when students consider Southern California colleges, their list includes Pomona College, USC, UCLA, and occasionally Loyola Marymount, or Pepperdine. Pepperdine, however, is a rare selection. Why? Pepperdine is a remarkably beautiful campus, and its selectivity increases each year: it now accepts only 30% of applicants. Additionally, this year it graduated seven Fulbright scholars. Pepperdine warranted a visit.
Arriving from the Pacific Coast Highway, I was awed by the architecture, the orange California poppies growing wildly along the road, and the dazzling panorama of the Pacific Ocean that melds with the physical campus. Pepperdine truly comes close to the aura of Club Med, yet, as I discovered in the informational session, it never lets you forget that it is part of the evangelical Churches of Christ.
The information session was held in the Stauffer Chapel, which, from a distance, looked like a miniature aircraft hangar with a huge window facing towards the grand Pacific Ocean. Approaching the chapel, I anticipated scanning the wonderful Pacific panoramas from the pews. However, entering the chapel, I discovered the view was obscured by stained glass. Slightly disappointed that such dramatic natural grace was so shrouded, I acknowledged George Pepperdine’s, founder of Western Auto Supply and chief benefactor, desired objective: this is “beautiful Christian living.”
During the session, the admissions officer mentioned Pepperdine’s strongest academic departments: the natural sciences, especially Biology, were among them. 20 to 30 students apply each year to medical school, and about 60-70% of them are accepted. If you look at the number of students who graduated in 2010 with a degree in Biology (21), Chemistry (5), and Physics (2), the assumption can be made that most applied to medical school (even though one needn’t be a natural science major to be pre-med). Possibly 18 (65%) gained acceptances.
Over half of Pepperdine’s undergraduates are in Business Administration (267- 32% of the class of 2010); Communications (157-19%); or Psychology (44-5%). Surprisingly, the Business Administration program, which is the school’s most popular, does not even rank among the top 200 in the Bloomberg Business Week undergraduate business school program list. The Communication and Psychology programs are also second tier programs according to Rugg’s Recommendations 2010. Though Pepperdine’s retention rate is a respectable 90%, only 72% of its students graduate in four years, and 80% in six. Total cost of attendance is $53,000; for the 68% of the students receiving scholarship/grant packages, annually averaging $27, 000, a baccalaureate from Pepperdine is not an insignificant investment of time and money.
At this point, Pepperdine might sound less than impressive, yet that would be overlooking Pepperdine’s two jewels: the Great Books Colloquium, and its study abroad programs. The Pepperdine Great Books Colloquium is a two-year, four course sequence that was modeled on the St. John’s Great Book’s program. Around a fifth of entering freshmen enroll in this program. The Great Book’s Colloquium encourages close reading of foundation texts, demands rigorous discussions and papers, and bonds students into small groups to ensure intellectual growth and inquiry. Most classes have fewer than 10 students.
Just under two thirds of Pepperdine’s students spend a term or longer abroad at one of its residential programs in Florence, Heidelberg, Lausanne, London, Buenos Aires, Chiang Mai, or Shanghai. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, Pepperdine has one of the highest percentages of students participating in a study abroad program in the country. According to many students, Pepperdine makes it extremely easy to apply to and secure credits for international study.
Pepperdine combines much. First it mixes a Club Med ambience with evangelical Christianity. Everyone takes three terms of religious classes, and everyone wants to know your religious beliefs. Further, many Pepperdine students mix majors in business, communications, and psychology, with the challenges of the Great Books Colloquium and, at least, one term abroad. Though some might consider the university conservative, it has a vibrancy and identity that defies labels. Pepperdine is an original: you won’t find anything else quite like it.
