Hi! I am a high schooler, but I am trying to get info on colleges. Who knows what the best private christian college is that is near a beach? Thanks! 
:-h
Westmont in Santa Barbara. Also the most expensive!
Pepperdine is closer to the beach than Westmont. That is, if you can figure out how to get past the celebrity houses to access the beach in Malibu.
Also…Point Loma in San Diego. Westmont is so nice but so expensive. I think it might be the priciest of all Christian colleges?
Thank you!
Palm Beach Atlantic isn’t too far away from a warm water beach and students often go there.
Vanguard in Costa Mesa is 10 minutes from Newport Beach
Definitely Pepperdine in Malibu. Gorgeous campus right on the beach (always ranked as one of the most beautiful campuses in the country) and also one of the top Christian colleges academically as well.
Pepperdine. Gorgeous, dramatic setting in Malibu.
I was exactly looking for Christian colleges on the beach as well, so I’ve done a ton of research, feel free to ask more questions but also I don’t know why these people are saying Westmont is the most expensive, Pepperdine is about $10,000 more. Also point loma Nazarene in San Diego is great as well and less expensive and right on the beach (even closer than Pepperdine is, sunset cliffs is beautiful, I live here) but is less academically rigorous than Pepperdine.
^^ because Westmont is more on the evangelical spectrum of Christian colleges…statement of faith, only Christian professors, etc. Pepperdine is more ecumenical in that not all students need to be Christian to attend although the professors are Christian. Do you see the difference?
Having visited Pepperdine, however, I will say the setting is gorgeous but the campus buildings are meh.
Pepperdine pretty isolated. Not sure how many church options are around either. Unless you surf regularly the area could be limiting. Point Loma closer to a lot more activity
can anyone comment on the academic rigor of Westmont vs. Pepperdine, beyond looking at SAT scores etc?
I’d say Pepperdine. It depends if you’re looking for a specific denomination, though.
Yes, but even though not all students have to be Christian (technically, all of these other Christian colleges do not have 100% Christians), it is a Christian college which is what this thread is about. So saying Westmont is the most expensive Christian college is not accurate. I think it’s mostly the difference between whether you are looking for a really good college that is Christian (Pepperdine) vs a good Christian college (plnu, Westmont, etc)
Also, Pepperdine is isolated If you don’t have a car. If you do, it’s right by Santa Monica and LA. At point loma, downtown San Diego is 20 minutes away but freshman aren’t allowed to have cars. I’m not sure which is more limiting without a car.
@acause Are you sure freshman at Point Loma aren’t allowed to have cars? Because my friend is a freshman there and I know he brought his car with him to school…Perhaps they just don’t have parking for freshman??
@californiagirl19 yeah they’re not allowed to have cars. He might be secretly parking it around the neighborhood without getting caught, idk how much they enforce the no-neighborhood-parking rule!
Point Loma, Pepperdine
Pepperdine is very difficult to get into (you’d need GPA/scores on par with UCSB or UCD to get in).
Gordon College, although on the north shore of MA, is five minutes from the beach.