Bachelor's · Malibu, California
Is Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at Pepperdine University worth it?
High confidence High confidence: 100+ graduates behind the earnings figures.
The verdict · all families, in-state, half paid with loans
Pays back in time: graduates typically recover the cost in about 6.6 years.
- Earnings 1 year after graduating
- $60,525
- Treasury AY2020-21, AY2021-22 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Earnings 4 years after graduating
- $87,452
- Treasury AY2017-2018, AY2018-2019 pooled earnings cohort measured in CY2022, CY2023, inflation adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Typical federal debt at graduation
- $20,549
- NSLDS pooled AY2022-23, AY2023-24 cohort
- Net cost to graduate, all families
- $204k (likely $204k – $226k)
- AcadYr 2024-25, reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Earnings bump, year 4
- $47k a year vs high-school graduates aged 25–34 in CA
- 2023 ACS 5-year pooled, adjusted to 2024 dollars
- Payback
- 6.6 years (likely 5.7–7.8)
- Bump vs net cost plus loan interest
- 10-year net return
- $20k (likely −$65k – $106k)
- Today's dollars
- 20-year net return
- $589k (likely $390k – $789k)
- Today's dollars
- Odds of finishing (school-wide)
- 78%
- Fall 2019 or AcadYr 2019-20 cohort (differs by institutional calendar), reported in IPEDS DCY2025-26
- Borrowers making progress / in default, 2 years in
- not reported / ≤ 10%
- NSLDS AY2016-17, AY2017-18 pooled cohorts measured in 2018-19, 2019-20
Change income, residency or loans Compare Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at other schools
Other majors at Pepperdine University
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Master's)$141,949
- Educational/Instructional Media Design (Doctoral)$133,031
- Law (Doctoral)$126,561
- Human Resources Management and Services (Master's)$123,307
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Doctoral)$120,410
- Dispute Resolution (Master's)$110,166
- Economics (Bachelor's)$104,943
- Clinical, Counseling and Applied Psychology (Doctoral)$103,432
- International Business (Bachelor's)$100,595
- Educational Administration and Supervision (Master's)$95,306
- Business Administration, Management and Operations (Bachelor's)$91,227
- Accounting and Related Services (Bachelor's)$82,200
Public Relations, Advertising, and Applied Communication at other schools in California
- University of Southern California$87,946
- University of San Francisco$81,285
- Chapman University$80,139
- Pacific Union College$77,121
- San Diego State University$67,414
- Biola University$62,319
- California Baptist University$52,904
- National University$51,723
- Point Loma Nazarene University$48,757
- California State University-Dominguez Hills$43,753