Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University, a private tax-exempt nonprofit educational institution based in Malibu, California, operates as a federal grant recipient and occasional educational services contractor, delivering tuition and fees for military medical training, undergraduate research programs, humanities public programming, tax clinic services, and basic science research across 30 distinct federal agencies. The university does not hold federal contract IDVs or serve as a prime contractor on federal contracts; its federal footprint is principally grant-funded and supplemented by small delivery orders issued against an existing Navy basic ordering agreement for tuition services.

The funding landscape reflects grant concentration rather than contract revenue. The National Science Foundation and the Internal Revenue Service lead by award count (18 and 16 awards respectively), followed by the Department of the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Corporation for National and Community Service. Combined potential value across all awards stands at $402 thousand, while obligated dollars total $58.9 million—a ratio indicating that many smaller awards have been fulfilled. The Navy BOA (N0018921GZ003) anchors the contract footprint with 8 delivery orders worth $83 thousand in combined potential value; these awards cover tuition and fees for medical personnel training at Pepperdine's Malibu campus.

Grant work dominates the portfolio. Pepperdine holds recurring IRS Low Income Taxpayer Clinic awards (CFDA 21.008) through December 2025, supporting law student representation of low-income taxpayers in tax controversies, with dollar-for-dollar institutional matching required. The NSF funded a $340,300 Research Experiences for Undergraduates Site award (CFDA 47.074, through March 2029) supporting an 8-student annual summer research program in biological adaptations to stress, and a $500,999 basic research award (CFDA 47.074, through April 2027) investigating desiccation tolerance in resurrection ferns using micro-CT imaging. The National Endowment for the Humanities funded a $1.0 million project grant (CFDA 45.164, July 2026–December 2027) for "America and the World: 250 Years of U.S. Leadership in Foreign Affairs," delivered in partnership with the Wilson Center through curated public lectures and online educational content. The Department of Education awarded $1.44 million (CFDA 84.422, October 2025–September 2026) for the "Roots of American Order Summer Certificate Seminars" serving undergraduates and faculty. Earlier awards from the NSF (2023) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (2022) supported undergraduate STEM engagement, cross-cultural project-based learning, and lone star tick population genomics research.

Pepperdine appears in subordinate roles on federal grants as a sub-recipient to Oregon State University (Autism Secondary Data Analysis Research, 2026) and the University of San Diego (research productivity survey and ResDataNexus model validation, 2025), as well as on conservation sub-awards addressing crayfish removal and aquatic habitat restoration in San Francisquito Creek (2023, 2025).

Recent activity (2025–2026) averages 4–5 awards per year, down from 7 annual awards in 2022–2023. Seven awards (combined potential value $20 thousand) reach completion within the next twenty-four months. The university competes in full-and-open grant programs without set-aside designations, positioning itself as a research and educational institution serving federal mission priorities in STEM training, humanities public engagement, and low-income taxpayer services rather than as a competitive contractor seeking government-wide or agency-wide vehicles.