Pepperdine or Fordham for finance: which is better for breaking into finance careers?

For finance, Fordham usually offers the clearer path into internships and early-career recruiting, mainly because of its New York City location and stronger day-to-day proximity to banks, investment firms, and corporate finance offices. Being in the Bronx with easy access to Manhattan matters a lot when you want semester internships, alumni coffees, networking events, and quicker exposure to finance employers. If your priority is maximizing access to the finance industry while still in college, Fordham has the edge.

Fordham tends to fit the student who wants to be aggressive about recruiting early and often. At the Gabelli School of Business, finance students benefit from being plugged into a city where many firms actually hire interns during the school year, not just in the summer. That can make a real difference because finance recruiting often rewards repetition, relationships, and being available for in-person events on short notice. Fordham’s alumni network is also especially useful in New York-facing business fields, where connections can translate into informational interviews and internship leads.

Pepperdine makes more sense for the student who wants a strong business education in a more traditional campus setting and is open to finance careers that are less centered on New York pipelines. Its Malibu location is beautiful, and access to the Los Angeles market can still lead to opportunities in wealth management, corporate finance, real estate, and some investment-related roles. But LA is not structured the same way for undergraduate finance recruiting, especially if you are targeting the densest concentration of finance internships and analyst roles.

Another difference is the style of student each school rewards. Fordham works well for someone ready to hustle in a big-city environment, commute into internships, and actively build a network from the first year onward. Pepperdine is often more appealing to students who value campus life, smaller-community feel, and a less intense urban setup, even if that means a somewhat less direct finance recruiting lane.

If breaking into finance is the main deciding factor, Fordham is the more strategic choice.