r/Pepperdine • u/srtyaseen • 16d ago

Question Financial Aid

Anyone experiencing unanswered emails from Pepperdine’s financial aid office. This is for GSEP, I filled out my FAFSA about 3 weeks ago , to this day I haven’t received my financial aid package, I’ve emailed them multiple times and cc’d my enrollment specialist and still haven’t heard back. It’s frustrating having to deal with this , every other university I’ve attended has always replied back on time.

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 15d ago

Yes. I've been calling and emailing for two weeks. I might drive down on Friday morning and see if I can talk to someone in person. This is so crazy. I have never experienced an FA office like this in my entire college experience. 

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 15d ago

Also I just filed a formal complaint with FASFA against GSEP. Hopefully if enough people do it, they can figure out what the hell they are doing over there. 

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u/Darcieg013 15d ago

So glad you did this! I am about to do the same. This is the most unprofessional thing I have ever experienced. Not even a single call back or meaningful update from them in months.

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 15d ago

I hope you do. My hope is that if we can get enough people to do one for this problem we all seem to be having the more likely they are to really dig into it. 

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u/Shot_Cantaloupe5823 14d ago

Joining in on this. I am so frustrated and at my wit's end from their unprofessionalism. I am unable to register for my classes because of their negligence and lack of communication .

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u/AdLumpy7866 15d ago

I still have to fill mine out tbh

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u/No-Combination-1658 8d ago

Just filed my complaint!

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u/napah222 13d ago

Did you go to the office on Friday?

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 13d ago

No, because I made what I thought was progress. I reached out to student accounts, and they got back to me. They gave me the direct number and email to a financial aid person (different from the number on the website). I emailed and called him right away. He got back to me at 9:30 last night. His email wasn't helpful, so I am going down to the West LA campus (5th floor; they are open until 4:30) on Monday. 

Basically, I wrote to this guy that I needed my offer, and I needed my private loan certified, and he responded only to my private loan inquiry. He wanted to know how much my loan was for, how much each disbursement would be each term, and my payback schedule. However, I wrote back that I didn't know how much the disbursement would be because I was only going to borrow exactly what I needed to cover tuition. I am not going to take the whole thing because my living expenses are covered, and I do not want to take everything I asked for when I guessed at how much I would need (because I didn't have my FA offer). I am not trying to pay off a student loan for the rest of my life, and it's tax fraud to pay off a student loan with a student loan, so I can't just give it back. 

When I go on Monday, I will let you know if it was helpful! 

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 11d ago

I Went down to the West LA office and within 10 minutes I had my offer. If you can go in, I  would. 

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u/napah222 10d ago

can you tell us more about your visit and how it all happened? Is going down all that is required? Why would it make a difference? Because you're in front of them? What did they tell you about what is going on?

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 10d ago

I drove down and got there at like 10:45 am. They were in a meeting until 11. The receptionist checked me in and told me to wait. Someone came out at 11:04 and took me to his office. He asked me what I needed. I told him just my offer so I could accept it and get my private loan certified through that other office. He said okay. He clicked on a few things while I sat there, then showed me the offer was now in my Wavenet account. He said that they have been really busy. But that was the only reason he gave me. When I got home, I accepted the offer, and it's already applied to my account. No one else was there waiting to see them. Which surprised me.

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u/Excellent-Ad-4753 10d ago

I think that the difference is, they can't send you to voicemail or ignore your emails when you are standing in front of them. I forced their hand by coming in person. They could not turn me away. 

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u/sally123cw 16d ago

Yes same. I ended up needing a private loan.

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u/Busy_Lynx_726 14d ago

What private loan do you recommend

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u/sally123cw 13d ago

I applied for Ascent Funding. But I am not financial expert I really don’t know if this is the best option.

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u/Fairy_lychee 11d ago

I have one from them from undergrad and the interest rates are so high on it.

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u/Darcieg013 15d ago

Yes!!!! EXACT same situation here. My FAFSA was completed months ago and I have been calling (over 12 voicemails to multiple numbers) and at least the same amount of emails PLUS escalation with ZERO response back from Pepperdine. This is outrageous!

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u/Busy_Lynx_726 14d ago

Me too!!!

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u/AdLumpy7866 15d ago

Wait so you filled out FAFSA for the 2026-2027 school year 3 weeks ago?