Special Circumstances
Students and families occasionally experience unforeseen changes during the application period and/or academic year (job loss, illness, etc.). The Office of Financial Assistance has an Appeal Committee to review cases of extreme hardship or special circumstance(s) or eligible students who have attended prior to the respective Summer term. If this applies to you, please choose the appropriate appeal below and follow the links on the form.
Appeal funds are only applicable to tuition charges; therefore, if you receive 100% tuition via (Faculty/ Staff Benefit, Posse, VA Benefits, etc.), you are not eligible to submit an appeal.
If you receive tuition-based VA Education Benefits, please contact the Office of Financial Assistance to determine if you are eligible to submit an appeal. At the time an appeal is filed an official FAFSA for the appropriate academic year must be submitted to Pepperdine. An appeal submitted with insufficient documentation or not following appeal awarding policy will receive an email with further instructions. Students requesting appeal funds are required to accept and process their federal student loans offered on their financial assistance award. Students will be required to fill out the Seaver College - Scholarship Questionnaire and General Application, confirm they’ve read the "Appeal Awarding Policy", and the Terms and Conditions.
Please Note: Finance charges accrue daily on past due balances. Therefore, waiting on a response from the Appeal decision will not waive any applicable finance charges that accrue. If financial assistance is delayed, reduced, or cancelled, students are required to find other resources to pay all charges prior to the due date in order to avoid finance charges.
All Appeals: Funds will not be offered if the student does not accept and process their federal student loans and adhere to the appeal awarding policy. Federal policy allows all students to request that the school cancel their federal loans within 14 days after the disbursement. However, if you decide to cancel your federal student loan(s), your approved/disbursed appeal funds will be revoked. Appeal funds will only apply to tuition and are approved on an annual basis.
We request that every parent complete the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan online credit check at www.studentaid.gov.This process may take approximately 15 minutes. If approved, parents are not required to accept the loan, but an explanation should be provided explaining why the PLUS Loan will not be processed. If denied, the student may be eligible to receive an additional Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan up to $4,000 as a Freshman/Sophomore or $5,000 as a Junior/Senior.
Important Update for AY 2026–2027: New regulations under the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) take effect July 1, 2026, impacting PLUS Loan borrowing. Please visit our OB3 webpage to learn more about how these changes may affect you.
If the appeal is approved, re-evaluation of financial assistance eligibility is subject to federal, state and university policies and regulations, the availability of funds, and adhering to the "Appeal Awarding Policy". Appeal decisions are final.
Effective for the 2026-2027 academic year, you may resubmit a future appeal based on the same circumstances. However, approval is not guaranteed and is at the discretion of the Appeal Committee.
- 2026-2027 General Appeal
– Begins July 31, 2026 - Ends April 15, 2027
– Students who attended prior to summer 2025 may apply - 2026-2027 Summer Appeal
– Begins May 1, 2027 - Ends July 1 2027
– Students who attended prior to summer 2026 may apply - 2025-2026 Fifth Year Senior Appeal Form
– Begins May 1,2026 - Ends December 1, 2026
– Seniors who need to appeal for an additional semester or year are required to request funding by completing the Fifth Year Senior Appeal Form and following all instructions.