St Olaf College vs Pepperdine

St Olaf College and Pepperdine University, two esteemed institutions of higher learning, offer distinct educational experiences. St Olaf, a liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, boasts a tight-knit community and a strong emphasis on the humanities, while Pepperdine, a private research university in Malibu, California, excels in business, education, and law. With acceptance rates of 49% and 34%, respectively, both universities are selective in their admissions process. St Olaf's student body is predominantly White (83%) and female (56%), while Pepperdine's is more diverse, with a larger proportion of Asian (20%) and Hispanic (15%) students and a gender distribution that is nearly equal. Explore the comparison table below to delve into further details about these institutions, including popular majors, graduation rates, and additional factors that may influence your college decision.

	Pepperdine University	St Olaf College
Overview
Location	Malibu, California	Northfield, Minnesota
Campus setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Distant
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Semester	4-1-4
Degrees offered	Undergraduate and Graduate	Undergraduate
Students retention rate	93.0%	91.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation	Churches of Christ	Evangelical

Admission
Acceptance rate	52.7%	47.4%
Application fees	Undergraduate: $65 Graduate: $65
SAT range	1260 - 1440	1240 - 1430
ACT range	25 - 30	28 - 33
Students submitting SAT score	19.0%	16.0%
Students submitting ACT score	3.0%	39.0%
Total number of applicants	11,855	6,494
Total number of admissions given out	6,249	3,080
Admitted students who chose to enroll	1,024	755
Yield rate	16.4%	24.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Required	Required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$80,152	$66,570
Average net price	$40,945	$27,729
Tuition	$59,450	$52,670
Room & board	$16,700	Room/dormitory: $5,720 Meal plan: $6,280
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	96.0% Average amount $36,967	100.0% Average amount $37,281
Students receiving federal student loan	38.0% Average amount $5,171	49.0% Average amount $5,006
Students taking out private loans	9.0% Average amount $12,899	9.0% Average amount $15,087

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	3,708 Men 42.3% Women 57.7%	2,988 Men 42.2% Women 57.8%
Graduate students	6,738 Men 30.2% Women 69.8%	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Low
Out-of-state students	46.9%	N/A
International students	8.3%	10.2%
Campus local/setting	Suburb: Large	Town: Distant
Dormitory capacity	2,579	2,703
First year students are required to live on campus?	No	No
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	California Texas Washington Colorado Arizona	N/A

Academics
Popular study areas	Business Psychology Legal Profession Education Multidisciplinary Studies	Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Foreign Languages and Literatures Mathematics and Statistics Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	13:1	12:1
Institutional accreditation	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission	Higher Learning Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	83.0%	85.0%
Dropout rate	16.6%	3.9%
Transferred out	N/A	11.0%
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	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $73,475 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $85,264 Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $62,389 Year 2: $60,623 Year 3: $67,970 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $56,177 Year 2: $52,107 Year 3: $61,505 Teacher Education and Professional Development, Specific Subject Areas (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $40,461 Year 2: $42,123 Year 3: $48,934 Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $47,797 Year 2: $46,478 Year 3: $47,009 Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $36,149 Year 2: $38,829 Year 3: $45,715 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,228 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: $44,563 Sociology and Anthropology (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,528 Year 2: $31,708 Year 3: $42,811 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,398 Year 2: $38,289 Year 3: $41,551 English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $19,226 Year 2: $23,166 Year 3: $38,521

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