Changing the world since 1908. It’s not just a slogan. It is Madison — a living, evolving university where change is the status quo. Equipped with the power that knowledge gives. We expand the world’s knowledge through innovative and cutting-edge research, widely available to our undergraduates. We explore new worlds through global-centric perspectives and study abroad programs. We devise new ways to generate prosperity. We help those struggling with disease, poverty, handicaps or lack of opportunity through science, education and service.
With the mentoring of faculty whose first love is teaching, we help students fulfill their destinies. JMU offers each student a future of significance — not an education of mere prestige, but an extraordinary education of exceptional scholarship, inventive thinking, unparalleled attention to the world community, a university-wide enthusiasm for teaching, and a commitment to student success.
And our alumni continue to demonstrate the unrestrained liberty of individuals to use their acquired knowledge to transform the world.
Best value
High graduation rates and low costs are among the factors landing JMU a place on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance’s top 100 “Best Values in Public Colleges” for 2016. JMU placed 21st on the list of four-year public schools that combine outstanding education with economic value.
#2 public school in the South U.S. News and World Report
92% freshman retention rate
Abroad and beyond
JMU is one of the top master’s-level institutions in the country in study-abroad participation, according to the Institute of International Education’s Open Doors 2015 report, which measured study abroad in 2013-14. JMU ranked first in the nation in participation in short-term programs and third in total number of students who studied abroad, with 1,161.
Being green
JMU is named one of the country’s most environmentally responsible colleges in The Princeton Review’s “Guide to 353 Green Colleges: 2015 Edition.” Factors considered in the rating system include green building certification programs, environmental literacy programs, formal sustainability committees, use of renewable energy resources and recycling and conservation programs. In 2012, JMU’s Wayland Hall became the first renovated residence hall in the country to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum award, the highest LEED certification status.
#168 in the nation The Forbes Best Buy Colleges list for 2014
1/3 study abroad4
Impressive balance
JMU’s “impressive balance of educational, social and extracurricular activities to enrich students’ experience” earned the school a place in The Princeton Review’s “The Best Value Colleges: 2014 Edition,” subtitled “The 150 Best Buy Colleges and What It Takes to Get In.”