James Madison University Data & Information Overview
Find out more about how James Madison University ranks, how diverse it is, what majors it offers, and other essential facts below. Want to know more about a specific stat? Just click on its tile, and you’ll go to a page that goes more in-depth on that subject. You can also use the links below to go directly to any section on this page.- Rankings
- Admission and Acceptance
- Faculty
- Retention and Graduation Rates
- Diversity
- Cost
- Student Debt
- Average Earnings
- Location
- Majors
- Online Learning
- Related Schools
How Well Is James Madison University Ranked?
2023 Rankings
College Factual analyzes over 2,000 colleges and universities in its annual rankings and ranks them in a variety of ways, including most diverse, best overall quality, best for non-traditional students, and much more.
James Madison University was awarded 605 badges in the 2023 rankings.
Overall Quality
According to College Factual's 2023 analysis, JMU is ranked #134 out of 2,241 schools in the nation that were analyzed for overall quality. This puts it in the top 10% of all schools in the nation.
JMU is also ranked #6 out of 65 schools in Virginia.
See all of the rankings for James Madison University.
Is It Hard to Get Into JMU?
Acceptance Rate
When it comes to admittance, James Madison University is somewhat selective. Its acceptance rate is 80%, which means you'll face some strong competition during the admissions process. Do what you can to make your application stand out.
Average Test Scores
About 56% of students accepted to JMU submitted their SAT scores. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, SAT Evidence-Based Reading and Writing scores ranged between 570 and 650. Math scores were between 550 and 630.
Learn more about James Madison University admissions.
James Madison University Faculty
Student to Faculty Ratio
The student to faculty ratio at James Madison University is about average at 17 to 1. This ratio is often used to gauge how many students might be in an average class and how much time professors will have to spend with their students on an individual level. The national average for this metric is 15 to 1.
Percent of Full-Time Faculty
Another measure that is often used to estimate how much access students will have to their professors is how many faculty members are full-time. The idea here is that part-time faculty tend to spend less time on campus, so they may not be as available to students as full-timers.
The full-time faculty percentage at James Madison University is 85%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
Retention and Graduation Rates at James Madison University
Freshmen Retention Rate
James Madison University has a freshmen retention rate of 89%. That's a good sign that full-time students like the school and their professors enough to want to stick around for another year. It's also a sign that the admissions team did a good job in choosing applicants who were a good fit for the school.
Graduation Rate
Students are considered to have graduated on time if they finish their studies within four years. At JMU the on-time graduation rate of first-time, full-time students is 69%. That is great when compared to the national average of 33.3%
Find out more about the retention and graduation rates at James Madison University.
James Madison University Undergraduate Student Diversity
During the 2017-2018 academic year, there were 19,727 undergraduates at JMU with 18,420 being full-time and 1,307 being part-time.
How Much Does James Madison University Cost?
The overall average net price of JMU is $22,562. The affordability of the school largely depends on your financial need since net price varies by income group. See the table below for the net price for different income groups.Net Price by Income Group for JMU
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $14,288 | $14,985 | $19,216 | $24,471 | $27,196 |
The net price is calculated by adding tuition, room, board and other costs and subtracting financial aid.Note that the net price is typically less than the published for a school. For more information on the sticker price of JMU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Student Loan Debt
It's not uncommon for college students to take out loans to pay for school. In fact, almost 66% of students nationwide depend at least partially on loans. At JMU, approximately 40% of students took out student loans averaging $8,938 a year. That adds up to $35,752 over four years for those students.
The student loan default rate at JMU is 2.0%. This is significantly lower than the national default rate of 10.1%, which is a good sign that you'll be able to pay back your student loans.
Get more details about paying for James Madison University.
How Much Money Do JMU Graduates Make?
Although some majors pay more than others, students who graduate from JMU with a bachelor's degree go on to jobs where they make an average salary of $61,268 in their early years. That's great news for JMU students since it is 44% more than the average college graduate's salary of $42,485 per year.
See which majors at James Madison University make the most money.
Location of James Madison University
James Madison University is a public institution located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The location of JMU is great for students who prefer living in an urban area.Get more details about the location of James Madison University.
Contact details for JMU are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 800 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 |
| Phone: | 540-568-6211 |
| Website: | www.jmu.edu/ |
| Facebook: | http://www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/facebook |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/JMU |
James Madison University Majors
During the most recent year for which we have data, students from 54 majors graduated from James Madison University. Of these students, 5,002 received undergraduate degrees and 751 graduated with a master's or doctor's degree. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.| Most Popular Majors | Bachelor’s Degrees | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Mental & Social Health Services | 504 | $30,000 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 433 | $39,604 |
| Health & Physical Education | 292 | $33,807 |
| Liberal Arts General Studies | 263 | $32,885 |
| Nursing | 254 | $65,005 |
| General Psychology | 240 | $28,370 |
| General Biology | 226 | $27,637 |
| Business Administration & Management | 176 | $49,222 |
| Marketing | 174 | $49,719 |
| Information Science | 168 | $70,020 |
Online Learning at JMU
Online learning is becoming popular at even the oldest colleges and universities in the United States. Not only are online classes great for returning adults with busy schedules, they are also frequented by a growing number of traditional students.
In 2019-2020, 20,632 students took at least one online class at James Madison University. This is an increase from the 1,832 students who took online classes the previous year.
| Year | Took at Least One Online Class | Took All Classes Online |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-2020 | 20,632 | 4,653 |
| 2018-2019 | 1,832 | 689 |
| 2017-2018 | 1,632 | 545 |
| 2016-2017 | 18,591 | 591 |
| 2015-2016 | 2,294 | 416 |
Learn more about online learning at James Madison University.
Find Out More About James Madison University
Related Schools
If you’re considering James Madison University, here are some more schools you may be interested in knowing more about.
- Eastern Michigan University
- Grand Valley State University
- University of Central Florida
- University of Michigan - Flint
- University of Puerto Rico - Rio Piedras
Curious on how these schools stack up against JMU? Pit them head to head with College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare college on the features that matter most to you!
Notes and References
Footnotes
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
References
- National Center for Education Statistics
- College Scorecard
- Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
- Image Credit: By Asheville Post Card Co., Asheville, North Carolina under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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