Pepperdine University
CA · AI Readiness #203 of 227
AIREDEX™ Score: 4.9 /10
Pepperdine is rolling out a required AI skills course for all undergraduates starting fall 2026, giving every student, regardless of major, hands-on experience with multiple AI platforms alongside a framework for evaluating their ethical implications.
Waves can pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Data Science with AI and ethics coursework, earn a Data Science minor with a machine learning track, and access Google Gemini for Education and NotebookLM through enterprise agreements. The Keck Institute for Data Science funds undergraduate summer research fellowships and connects students to faculty at the intersection of AI and social science. Pepperdine has not yet built a standalone undergraduate AI degree or an on-campus industry AI facility, as exists at USC through its Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence and its USC-Amazon Center.
Pillar grades
- Commitment: C+
- Curriculum: D+
- Partnerships: D
- Research: B-
A(I)ttitude™: Cautious
Selected Highlights
- AI Oversight Committee confirmed with named co-leads (CIO Jonathan See; Executive Director Carla Anderson), genuinely cross-campus membership from 5+ divisions (IT, Legal, HR, Marketing, Student Affairs, GSEP, PGBS, Seaver), and public policy outputs including Academic AI Policy (Fall 2025) and Tiered Trust AI Evaluation Tool.
- Three distinct institutional AI policy instruments published: Academic Policy on AI (Provost, Fall 2025), IT AI Position Statement, AI Use Syllabus Statements.
- $10M W.M. Keck Foundation grant (2021) confirmed AI-specific.
- Keck Institute for Data Science confirmed with named director (Fabien Scalzo), 35+ affiliated faculty, active fellowship and conference programming.
- Three distinct non-Microsoft enterprise AI tools deployed university-wide (Sept 2025): Google Gemini for Education, NotebookLM, Zoom AI Companion, all with data protection agreements.