What GPA does my student need to keep a Pepperdine merit scholarship?

It depends on the tier. Regents Scholars and Blanche E. Seaver Scholars must maintain a 3.25 cumulative Pepperdine GPA, full-time enrollment, and no academic probation, with no appeals process if the scholarship is lost. The George Pepperdine Achievement Award requires only a 2.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress. The Christian Leadership Award requires a 2.0 GPA, and the PLP Helen Young Scholarship requires a 2.5 GPA. All merit scholarships apply only to tuition charges and are prorated if a student drops below full-time enrollment.

How is the Regents Scholars Program different from the George Pepperdine Achievement Award?

The Regents Scholars Program is a competitive scholarship for the top 8-10% of admitted first-year students, worth $40,000-$45,000/year, requiring submitted test scores and a 3.25 GPA for renewal. The George Pepperdine Achievement Award is a broader merit award ($16,000-$35,000/year) that is automatic for students with a 3.60+ unweighted GPA, does not require test scores, and requires only a 2.0 GPA for renewal. Students cannot hold both; they receive the higher award. The Regents program also includes cohort housing, a Great Books seminar, and networking events with university leadership.

Pepperdine· Renewal Rules

Keeping Pepperdine’s Merit Aid for Four Years

What the financial-aid office actually requires after freshman year — minimum GPA, credit-hour pace, and the cliffs that quietly downgrade families mid-degree.

Verified May 20269 days ago· PT

At a glance

Renewable tiers: 4 of 4
One-time tiers: 0
Tiers with published renewal terms: 4
Renewal risk profile: moderate

Renewal risk profile

Pepperdine's renewal bar is achievable for steady students but isn't generous. Most awards require a cumulative GPA in the 3.0–3.4 band plus full-time enrollment. Audit the strictest tier on this school's list before assuming the four-year value is locked in.

Regents Scholars Program: Full-time enrollment
George Pepperdine Achievement Award: 2.0 GPA
Christian Leadership Award: 2.0 GPA
Special Achievement Scholarships: See notes

Renewal terms by tier

Regents Scholars Program
$40,000 to $45,000/year
To keep it: Renewable for four years (8 semesters). Requires 3.25 cumulative Pepperdine GPA, full-time enrollment, and no academic probation. There is no appeals process for loss of this scholarship.
Source: https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/admission/application/undergraduate/affordability/
George Pepperdine Achievement Award
$16,000 to $35,000/year
Entry requirements: 3.60 unweighted recalculated GPA guarantees at least $16,000/year; higher amounts based on holistic review GPA
To keep it: Renewable for four years. Requires minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress. Award applies only to tuition charges and is prorated if enrollment drops below full-time.
Source: https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/admission/application/undergraduate/affordability/
Christian Leadership Award
$5,000/year
To keep it: Renewable for four years. Requires minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress.
Source: https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/admission/application/undergraduate/coc.htm
Special Achievement Scholarships
$500 to $57,000/year
To keep it: Renewal at departmental discretion. Requires Satisfactory Academic Progress and may require maintaining a specific number of major-specific units.
Source: https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/admission/application/undergraduate/affordability/

How families lose this aid

Not realizing the George Pepperdine Achievement Award has a guaranteed floor.
Students with an unweighted recalculated GPA of 3.60 or higher automatically receive at least $16,000/year. Many families underestimate Pepperdine's affordability because they see the $99,260 sticker price and assume no merit aid is forthcoming without a separate application. The automatic floor means competitive students know a minimum discount before they even apply.

Renewal questions families ask

What GPA does my student need to keep a Pepperdine merit scholarship?: It depends on the tier. Regents Scholars and Blanche E. Seaver Scholars must maintain a 3.25 cumulative Pepperdine GPA, full-time enrollment, and no academic probation, with no appeals process if the scholarship is lost. The George Pepperdine Achievement Award requires only a 2.0 cumulative GPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress. The Christian Leadership Award requires a 2.0 GPA, and the PLP Helen Young Scholarship requires a 2.5 GPA. All merit scholarships apply only to tuition charges and are prorated if a student drops below full-time enrollment.
How is the Regents Scholars Program different from the George Pepperdine Achievement Award?: The Regents Scholars Program is a competitive scholarship for the top 8-10% of admitted first-year students, worth $40,000-$45,000/year, requiring submitted test scores and a 3.25 GPA for renewal. The George Pepperdine Achievement Award is a broader merit award ($16,000-$35,000/year) that is automatic for students with a 3.60+ unweighted GPA, does not require test scores, and requires only a 2.0 GPA for renewal. Students cannot hold both; they receive the higher award. The Regents program also includes cohort housing, a Great Books seminar, and networking events with university leadership.

Rules that bite at Pepperdine

The renewal trip wires we'd flag in a custom playbook — derived from Pepperdine's own tier rules, not generic advice.

renewalRegents Scholars Program: renewal floor that quietly knocks awards out
Renewable for four years (8 semesters). Requires 3.25 cumulative Pepperdine GPA, full-time enrollment, and no academic probation. There is no appeals process for loss of this scholarship. A single rough term can end a four-year award here without warning if the GPA floor isn't met cumulatively.

How Pepperdine compares across our verified dataset

70 of 78 verified schools publish at least one four-year renewable merit award.
Pepperdine is one of them. The cohort minority (8 schools) only awards one-year scholarships — meaning the four-year value families assume on a brochure quote isn't guaranteed at every school.

Sources used on this page

Every renewal claim is checked against Pepperdine’s own published materials.

policyPepperdine stacking policy
cdsPepperdine Common Data Set
coaPepperdine cost-of-attendance worksheet
tierRegents Scholars Program
tierChristian Leadership Award
scholarshipPepperdine Legacy Partners (PLP) Helen Young Scholarship
scholarshipUbben Endowed Scholarship for Production Design
scholarshipNatural Science Division Entering Student Scholarship