Giving Where
You can choose from among eleven recipients for your donation. We appreciate your gift and want to make giving simple and beneficial for you.
GSEP Dean's Excellence Fund
The GSEP Dean's Excellence Fund is a collection of gifts from dedicated alumni and friends of Pepperdine University. Gifts to this fund allow Dean Farzin Madjidi to proactively direct funds to strategic initiatives at GSEP. These gifts are among the most important and valuable forms of support, as they are distributed where the unmet need is greatest, at the dean’s discretion, to enhance our student’s experience.
GSEP Degrees and Programs
Pepperdine's Graduate School of Education and Psychology offers master's and doctoral programs to match well-defined career tracks. Our scholar-practitioner approach to learning offers extensive practicum experience and classes taught by faculty who are professionals currently working in their areas of expertise. By giving to this unrestricted fund, you are providing support to the greatest need in your degree area to ensure excellence in programming for faculty and students!
GSEP Scholarships
The Graduate School of Education and Psychology awards a number of scholarships each year. These awards are made available through endowed funds, gifts from supporters and alumni, and allocation of University general funds. The Scholarship Committee awards scholarships based on merit and academic and professional experience, as well as standardized test scores. By giving to GSEP scholarships, you are ensuring that we attract the brightest students who will go on to become purpose-driven servant leaders in the education and psychology fields. You will be investing in the future and your support will make a difference!
GSEP Student Emergency Fund
This is a gift from the heart. When a student is in need of emergency assistance, Pepperdine wants to be there as an extended family. Our students have weathered the storms of health issues, tragedies, and misfortunes that require extraordinary care from the University. Your gift to the GSEP Student Emergency Fund will allow the Pepperdine family to come to the aid of a struggling student.
As Pepperdine administrators, we get to watch as our students and graduates change the world in profound ways, but sometimes they need a little extra support themselves. In situations ranging from natural disasters, global pandemics, or the death or severe illness of an immediate family member, the Student Emergency Fund assists students with:
- Extra funds for food
- Emergency travel
- Housing or medical expenses
- Replacement of essential belongings after a loss
- Strategies to overcome immediate challenges and planning for the future
Every day, the Student Care Team ministers to students who are facing unforeseen circumstances, oftentimes ones that have financial ramifications. We witness firsthand that students at Pepperdine are pulled from their studies by more than just the temptation to skip class for the beach. Every dollar you contribute goes directly to help a student achieve their dream of living with purpose, serving others, and leading us into the future.
Why are donations necessary?
The Student Emergency Fund cannot exist without support from you. Will you help meet a student’s critical need right now? Even a small gift can make a big impact for a student who has experienced sudden and dramatic loss.
Foster Grandparents Program
The Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) offers a multigenerational approach to community volunteerism by giving older adults the opportunity to volunteer with youth ranging from infancy to 21 years of age. Foster Grandparents are mentors, tutors, and friends to children with exceptional needs or circumstances.
We partner with schools and community-based organizations in service planning areas (SPA) 4, 6, 7, and 8, which encompass Inglewood, Carson, Compton, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Hollywood, Mid City, Torrance, and Watts.
We invite you to learn more about our dedicated volunteers, community partners, and the Foster Grandparent Program.
Please consider supporting this life-changing initiative!
Aliento, The Center for Latinx Communities
Aliento, The Center for Latinx Communities at Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) is dedicated to addressing the individual and communal mental health needs of Latinx communities. Aliento, the Spanish word signifying "breath," conveys the essence of the center. The Center's overall purpose is to "dar aliento" (give support, encouragement, life) to community members. The Center houses three interrelated components:
- A Latinx Mental Health Training Program
- Community Outreach and Education activities
- A Research Institute
The Center's name and academic program were developed in collaboration with community members. Aliento faculty and staff received feedback from community members and mental health professionals on developing the academic program and its content and to validate our choice in naming the center. The mission of Aliento is to encourage community participation as an integrated component to its sustainability, and relevance and to make it accessible to Latinx communities.
The Center utilizes liberation psychology and theology frameworks as the foundation for its education, outreach, and research. The Center seeks to remediate any discrepancies in historical practices and research that are inconsistent with those most in need in society. Liberation psychology and theology frameworks are integrated throughout each component of Aliento.
Urban Initiative
The Urban Initiative of the Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) seeks to link community partners committed to understanding and addressing the mental health and educational issues of the underserved in Los Angeles and around the world. The aim of the Urban Initiative is to develop transformative solutions to social problems that have both a humanitarian value and are grounded in problem-oriented perspectives.
GSEP has a long tradition of engagement with its urban neighbors. For more than 50 years, we have been preparing teachers, administrators, and mental health workers for service in their communities. Building on that history of service, we developed the Urban Initiative to deepen the link between GSEP professional preparation programs, community partners, and the education and mental health needs of those in urban settings.
The unique structure of GSEP as a graduate school of both education and psychology affords the expertise in designing interdisciplinary approaches to solving complex urban problems in both the educational and mental health spheres.
"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me…” (Matthew 25:35 KJV). "It is incumbent upon us to serve our fellow man. The Urban Initiative continues to connect community partners and thought leaders committed to understanding and addressing the mental health and educational issues of the underserved." - Dr. Lonnie McNamee; Assistant Dean of Faculty Development & Administration Executive Director of Urban Initiative. Make a gift on this special giving day to support this initiative for changing the conditions for people in need!
Community Clinics
Pepperdine University's Graduate School of Education and Psychology manages three counseling clinics, which offer support to the Pepperdine and external communities. In addition to the Community Counseling Clinics, GSEP also provides counseling services to the homeless community at the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission. Community Clinics' Mission: To improve the quality of life for children, adolescents, adults, couples, and families by providing psychological services that are founded on the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct. We are committed to providing affordable, high-quality, individualized counseling within a supportive and accepting environment. The counseling clinics are staffed by Pepperdine master's- and doctoral-level interns who are trained and supervised by licensed psychologists. The clinics offer a wide range of high-quality, affordable psychological services to individuals of all ages and backgrounds, as well as couples and families. Evaluations and therapy plans are specifically tailored for each individual client.
SEC Fast Pitch
The Social Entrepreneurship & Change program prepares socially conscious individuals to make a lasting impact by analyzing complex social problems, creating sustainable market-based solutions, and improving management and leadership skills. Learning culminates with a two-term capstone project devising a new social enterprise or related project within an existing organization. Students develop a thorough business plan in collaboration with successful mentors and faculty who are scholar-practitioners and nationally recognized experts. Validated ideas are presented to industry leaders in a "Shark Tank" style Fast Pitch Competition with multiple participants receiving funding to launch their venture.
Why are donations necessary?
Help support the next generation of social entrepreneurs!
Global Travel Experience Financial Support Fund
This fund will provide financial assistance to masters and doctoral students who lack funds to complete the global travel experience requirements in their program.
GSEP Student Spiritual Development Fund
The Graduate School of Education and Psychology (GSEP) at Pepperdine University fully supports the University’s Christian mission and promotes spiritual development as one of the pillars of education. Following the instruction from Proverbs 2:2, “tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding,” GSEP equally pursues learning, truth, and wisdom in the efforts to serve the needs of others. Gifts to this arena support programs, training, and opportunities to cultivate spiritual development alongside academic engagement.