by our College Data Analytics TeamJames Madison University is a public institution in Harrisonburg, Virginia enrolling 20,888 undergraduates. It accepts 72% of applicants and has an on-time graduation rate of 80%, above the national average of 33%. College Factual ranks it #50 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in its 2027 Best Colleges ranking (top 1%), and its Value for Your Money analysis rates it a Fair Price.
Source: IPEDS 2025; College Scorecard July 2026; College Factual rankings 2027. Data as of: July 2026.
James Madison University ranks #50 of 5,159 colleges nationwide in College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges ranking, placing it in the top 1%.
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 831 badges in the 2027 rankings.
JMU is ranked #50 out of 5,159 schools in the nation for overall quality on College Factual’s 2027 Best Colleges list. This puts it in the top 1% of all schools in the nation!
JMU also holds the #3 spot on the Best Colleges in Virginia ranking.
See all of the rankings for James Madison University.
James Madison University has an acceptance rate of 72%, which makes it somewhat selective. Make sure it’s not the only school you apply to, even if it’s your school of choice. Whether you get in or not will largely depend on how you compare to other applicants.
About 14% 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 600 and 680. Math scores were between 570 and 660.
JMU received ACT scores from 3% of accepted students. When looking at the 25th through the 75th percentile, ACT Composite scores ranged between 24 and 29.
Learn more about James Madison University admissions.
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.
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 81%. This is higher than the national average of 47%.
The freshmen retention rate of 92% tells us that most first-year, full-time students like James Madison University enough to come back for another year. This is a fair bit higher than the national average of 68%. That’s certainly something to check off in the good column about the school.
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 80%. 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.
The current enrollment includes 20,888 undergraduates at JMU.
Get more detailed information on the diversity at James Madison University.
The average net price of JMU is $17,140. 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.
| $0-30 K | $30K-48K | $48-75 | $75-110K | $110K + |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $11,444 | $12,977 | $16,475 | $22,343 | $30,147 |
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 price for a school. For more information on the sticker price of JMU, see our tuition and fees and room and board pages.
Almost 66% of college students who graduated with the class of 2018 took out student loans, but that percentage varies from school to school. At JMU, approximately 29% of students took out student loans averaging $5,924 a year. That adds up to $23,696 over four years for those students. The student loan default rate 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.
The pay for some majors is higher than others, but on average, students who graduate with a bachelor’s degree from James Madison University make about $69,954 a year during their first few years of employment after graduation. This is good news for future James Madison University graduates since it is 42% more than the average college graduate’s salary of $49,219 per year.
See which majors at James Madison University make the most money.
James Madison University is an public institution located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. The surrounding area of the school is a good match for students who enjoy city life. Get more details about the location of James Madison University.
Get in touch with James Madison University are given below.
| Contact Details | |
|---|---|
| Address: | 800 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 |
| Phone: | 5405686211 |
| Website: | www.jmu.edu/ |
| Wikipedia: | en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison_University |
| Facebook: | www.jmu.edu/jmuweb/facebook |
| Twitter: | twitter.com/JMU |
In the latest year of available data, students from 24 majors graduated from James Madison University. The following table lists the most popular undergraduate majors along with the average salary graduates from those majors make.
| Most Popular Majors | Completions | Average Salary of Graduates |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Disciplinary Studies | 5,755 | NA |
| Health Sciences & Services | 433 | NA |
| Health & Physical Education | 389 | $34,566 |
| General Psychology | 332 | $28,370 |
| Communication & Media Studies | 309 | $39,604 |
| Nursing | 289 | $66,780 |
| Business Administration & Management | 220 | $64,050 |
| Accounting | 205 | $61,980 |
| Teacher Education Grade Specific | 204 | NA |
| Computer Information Systems | 196 | $73,457 |
6,736 students took at least one online class at James Madison University.
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.
Learn more about online learning at James Madison University.
Curious how schools stack up against JMU? Compare them side by side using College Combat, our free interactive tool that lets you compare colleges on the features that matter most to you.
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