US News & World Report Best | 2021

Rankings for Pepperdine

Prepared by OIE, September 2020

I. Pepperdine ranked 49th among the 2021 Best Colleges (National ) in the US

Pepperdine ranked 49th (out of 389 National Universities) in the 2021 edition of US News & World Report (US News) Best Colleges.

46

Pepperdine’s rank for 2021 was higher than the Institution's average rank over the past 21 years (M = 51.9). Pepperdine’s highest rank was obtained in the 2018 and 2019 editions of US th 52 News (46 ), and the lowest rank was obtained in the 2010 51.9 edition (58th).

-Mean = 51.9 -Median = 52.0 58 -Mode = 54.0 -Standard deviation = 3.5

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 2

Pepperdine’s detailed ranking Weights US News edition Indicators and sub-indicators Prior Yr Current 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 Changes USN&WR OVERALL RANK - - 50 46 46 50 49 Improved Outcomes rank 35.0% 40.0% 55 49 37 41 52 Declined Average first-year retention rate (past four yrs) (4.4%) (4.4%) 93% 92% 92% 91% 91% No change Average graduation rate (past four yrs) (17.6%) (17.6%) 82% 84% 85% 85% 85% No change Graduation rate performance (actual - predicted) (8.0%) (8.0%) +7% +11% +9% +3% +8% Improved Actual 6-yr graduation rate - - 84% 87% 85% 83% 86% Improved Predicted 6-yr graduation rate - - 77% 76% 76% 80% 78% Declined Social mobility rank - - - - - 96 113 Declined Actual 6-yr Pell Grant graduation rate (2.5%) (2.5%) - - 83% 84% 89% Improved Pell Grant graduation rate performance (2.5%) (2.5%) ------Graduate indebtedness ranka - (5.0%) - - - - 228 N/A Expert opinion rank 20.0% 20.0% 66 69 71 68 64 Improved Peer assessment score (out of 5) - - 3.3 3.3 3.3 3.4 3.5 Improved Faculty resources rank 20.0% 20.0% 34 37 33 36 38 Declined Classes under 20 (6.0%) (6.0%) 69% 69% 71% 70% 69% Declined Classes 50 or more (2.0%) (2.0%) 2% 2% 2% 3% 2% Declined Faculty with terminal degree (Univ) (3.0%) (3.0%) 88% 88% 89% 88% 86% Declined Student-faculty ratio (1.0%) (1.0%) 13:1 14:1 13:1 14:1 13:1 Improved Full-time faculty (Univ) (1.0%) (1.0%) 78% 79% 81% 80% 75% Declined Faculty salary (7.0%) (7.0%) ------Student excellence rank 10.0% 7.0% 74 79 73 65 72 Declined th th 1100- 1110- 1200- 1220- 1230- SAT/ACT 25 -75 percentile (enrolled first-yrs) (7.75%) (5.0%) 1320 1330 1390 1420 1450 Improved Freshmen in top 10% high school grad. class (2.25%) (2.0%) 48% 49% 49% 57% 46% Declined Financial resources rank 10.0% 10.0% 66 66 65 65 56 Improved Alumni giving rank 5.0% 3.0% 175 152 122 147 124 Improved Percentage (2-year rolling average) - - 7% 8% 9% 9% 9% No change

US News added a new indicator this year referred to as the “graduate indebtedness rank.” This rank is based on two indebtedness indicators: graduate indebtedness total, which is the average amount of accumulated federal loan debt among the undergraduate graduating class that took out federal loans (3% weight); and, graduate indebtedness proportion, which is the percentage of graduates among the undergraduate graduating class who borrowed federal loans (2% weight).

aNew indicator in 2021. Indicators in orange reflect a change in weight from the prior year. Percentages in parenthesis refer to the sub-indicator percentage points that comprise the respective weight. For more information on rankings and methodology, see the US News Ranking Methodology Report.

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 3

II. Peer and Competitor Schools

Ranking year/Overall rank School Description 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 of Notre Dame Competitor 19 19 17 18 16 18 15 18 18 15 19 Georgetown University Competitor 21 22 21 20 21 21 20 20 22 24 23 Univ of Southern Competitor 23 23 24 23 25 23 23 21 22 22 24 Wake Forest University Competitor 25 25 27 23 27 27 27 27 27 27 28 New York University Competitor 33 33 32 32 32 32 36 30 30 29 30 University of Rochester US News 37 35 33 32 33 33 32 34 33 29 34 Boston Competitor 31 31 31 31 31 30 31 32 38 37 35 Tulane University US News 51 50 51 52 54 41 39 40 44 40 41 Boston University US News 56 53 51 41 42 41 39 37 42 40 42 Pepperdine - 53 55 54 57 54 52 50 46 46 50 49 Santa Clara University OIE/WSCUC ------54 53 George Washington Univ US News 51 50 51 52 54 57 56 56 63 70 66 Loyola Marymount Univ OIE/WSCUC ------64 66 Southern Methodist Univ OIE/WSCUC 56 62 58 60 58 61 56 61 59 64 66 Baylor University OIE/WSCUC 79 75 77 75 71 72 71 75 78 79 76 University of OIE/WSCUC 94 97 92 91 95 89 86 90 85 91 88 Chapman University OIE/WSCUC ------125 124 University of the Pacific Competitor 99 101 106 112 116 108 111 110 106 125 133 Valparaiso University OIE/WSCU ------153 160

The above Table summarizes rankings of both peer and competitor schools for the past eleven issues of US News for schools that are categorized as “National Universities.” US News assigns more than 1,400 bachelor's degree-granting institutions to a rankings group (e.g., National Universities, National Liberal Arts, Regional Universities) based on the categories of higher education institutions developed by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Thus, some Pepperdine peer schools (e.g., Macalester Peer institutions are universities that are College, Calvin College, among others) are ranked in different groups. comparable to Pepperdine in one or more Other peer/competitor schools (e.g., Santa Clara University, Loyola characteristics. These characteristics may include Marymount University, Chapman University) were recently mission, size, enrollment, selectivity, or re-categorized by US News to “National Universities.” program offerings.

Note: schools sorted in Table by current year’s ranking. US News: Universities that are historically ranked near Pepperdine in US News Best Colleges. OIE/WSCUC: Universities that are currently used for accreditation and institutional research purposes.

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 4 Historical comparison of ranks and percentage changes, 2011-2021

Pepperdine Peers/competitors % Pepperdine 2011 2021 change Overall rank 53 49 -8% Grad and retn rank 52 52 0% Expert opinion rank 82 64 -22% Faculty resources rank 41 38 -7% Student excellence rank 63 72 14% Financial resources rank 59 56 -5% Alumni giving rank 129 124 -4% % Peer/Competitor (N=14) 2011 2021 change Overall rank 48 50 4% Grad and retn rank 49 55 13% Expert opinion rank 62 64 3% Faculty resources rank 45 44 -2% Student excellence rank 46 52 13% Financial resources rank 54 48 -12% Alumni giving rank 83 69 -18%

Peer and competitor schools N( = 14) Baylor University Boston College Since 2011, Pepperdine’s overall rank has improved 8%, Boston University compared to a 4% decrease across 14 peer and George Washington University competitor schools.a These peer and competitor schools were Georgetown University selected for analysis due to having the most complete set of New York University data for the respective years. Pepperdine's largest percentage Southern Methodist University Tulane University change was observed for the “expert opinion rank” (22%). University of Notre Dame University of Rochester University of San Diego University of University of the Pacific Wake Forest University aNote: a negative percentage change reflects improvement, as lower ranking scores are preferred (i.e., 1 = highest ranking).

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 5

III. Pepperdine ranked 46th among the Best Value Schools (National Universities) in the US

Pepperdine ranked 46th among the nation’s Best Value Schools according to US News, which declined from 2020’s ranking of 43rd (see orange in Figure). The calculation used to determine this ranking takes into account a school’s academic quality and cost after accounting for total expenses and financial aid. The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the value for students. For more information, please see the US News Best Value Methodology report.

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 6

IV. Pepperdine received a campus ethnic diversity rating of 0.62 (National Universities)

US News identifies colleges where students are most likely to encounter undergraduates from diverse ethnic backgrounds, Pepperdine’s by factoring in the proportion of minority students—leaving diversity index out international students—and the overall mix of groups in US News edition (1 = highest) each institution’s Fall 2019 student body. The ethnic 2013 0.59 2014 0.63 categories used in the calculations were African American 2015 0.66 (non-Hispanic), Hispanic, American Indian, Asian American, 2016 0.65 Pacific Islander, White (non-Hispanic), and multiracial (two or 2017 0.62 2018 0.59 more races). The formula produces a diversity index that 2019 0.60 ranges from 0.0 to 1.0. The closer a school’s number is to 1.0, 2020 0.60 the more diverse the student population (i.e., the closer the 2021 0.62 number is to 1.0 the more likely it is for students to encounter students from a different ethnic group). Pepperdine improved its score from 0.60 in 2020 to 0.62 in 2021 (see Table).

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 7

V. Other Pepperdine US News rankings

Seaver College Ranking (1 = highest) SVR Program or Ranking 2020 2021 Best Undergraduate Business Programs 50 53 Best Undergraduate Teaching 20 18 Best Colleges for Veterans 24 25 Academic Programs to Look For: Study Abroad 11 15 Top Performers on Social Mobility 96 113

Pepperdine Graziadio Business School Ranking (1 = highest) Program or Ranking 2020 2021 PGBS Best Business Schools 74 83 Best Part-time MBA 52 74 Best Online MBA Programs 21 47 Best Online MBA Programs for Veterans - 29

Graduate School of Education and Psychology Ranking (1 = highest) GSEP Program or Ranking 2020 2021 Clinical Psychology 143 146 Best Education Schools 186 162

CSOL Caruso School of Law Ranking (1 = highest) Program or Ranking 2020 2021 Best Law Schools 51 47 Dispute Resolution 2 3

School of Public Policy Ranking (1 = highest) Program or Ranking 2020 2021 SPP Public Affairs 74 65

Rankings based on data available from US News on 9/9/20.

Source: US News & World Report, Best Colleges 2021 Page | 8