Pepperdine vs American

College Search & Selection
1

Hi all,
I am a transfer student currently attending a community college in California. I am transferring this fall. I have been accepted to Pepperdine University and American University. Pepperdine is about 30 minutes from my house (but required to live on campus). I have never been to D.C but my counselor suggested I apply as I expressed some interest in leaving California (I have only lived here 2 years, I am from Texas).

My cost of attendance per year for Pepperdine is as follows: not sure if this is my ‘cost of attendance’, but here is everything I/my parents will have to pay back. This will be per year, for 2 years.
$3,500 subsidized loan
$2,000 unsubsidized loan
$4,214 parent plus loan
The rest of the projected cost of attendance is covered by grants and scholarships.

The finances for American is hard for me to understand:
My total aid per year is $28,045. $3,500 is from a subsidized loan. $2,000 is from an unsubsidized loan. The rest is grants and scholarships and a $2,000 work study. The estimated cost of attendance per year for American is $65,048. Therefore, my parents will have to pay roughly $37,000 a year, for 2 years.

I know this is probably crazy considering the cost difference but is American worth that much money? In addition, is it worth turning down Pepperdine for?

Thanks in advance.

2

Take the bigger package and go to Pepperdine. You can live elsewhere after you finish college.

3

American is a really good school and it’s in the nation’s capital. If you were really looking for a career in DC or state department etc it may offer you a modest home field advantage. But that could be more than offset with the money being used for grad school at a school like Georgetown.

Pepperdine is just as good and in CA. And I think that being forced to live on campus is a really good idea.

4

Go to Pepperdine and move to another state after graduation, for work :slight_smile:
That being said make sure Pepperdine is a good fit - it’s a religious school which will require religious service attendance and Bible study.