JMU Acceptance Rate, Ranking, & Tuition (2025)
October 31, 2025
James Madison, America鈥檚 fourth president, might have been known as 鈥渢he father of the Constitution,鈥 but the university that is his namesake, James Madison University, was founded as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women. Located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, about a two-hour car ride southwest of Washington D.C., James Madison University (or JMU) students enjoy access to Mid-Atlantic cities and an East Coast lifestyle while also living on a classic, colonial Virginia-style campus.
In a recent year, JMU boasted a . This is a common indicator of student satisfaction. If 90% of students want to stay after their first yea50, chances are they鈥檙e getting a lot out of the experience. The student-faculty ratio at JMU is 17:1, and 89% of classes contain fewer than 50 students. The most popular majors include hands-on fields, such as the Health Professions, Business, and Communications.
In 2022, JMU earned its R2 Doctoral University classification with 鈥渉igh research activity鈥 from the Carnegie Commission. It鈥檚 also in its second year of being ranked among national universities, and JMU was ranked #79 among public institutions in the U.S. News and World Report (2026). JMU came in at #151 for 鈥渘ational universities,鈥 as defined by U.S. News and World Report.
But how difficult is it to become a JMU Duke? And how much does it cost once you arrive on campus in Harrisonburg? We鈥檒l break down the numbers for you in the following sections:
- JMU’s Class of 2028 acceptance rate (plus how to predict your chances with our free admissions calculator)
- GPA and class rank of accepted JMU applicants
- Admissions trends
- The demographics of current JMU undergraduates
- JMU鈥檚 yield rate
- How JMU’s admissions officers evaluate candidates
- Tips for applying to JMU
- How to assess whether applying to Berkeley is even worth the $70 application fee (for you)
James Madison University – College Admissions Calculator
Want to calculate your chance of getting into JMU? 国产第一福利影院草草 is pleased to offer the most accurate admissions calculator you’ll find anywhere online – the only such tool that is informed by decades of combined experience personally guiding thousands of students through the college admissions process.
JMU Acceptance Rate
Though the official data aren’t out yet, JMU estimates its Class of 2029 at 5,375. What we do know is that out of the 38,419 Duke-Dog hopefuls that applied for the Class of 2028, 27,474 were accepted. This gives JMU an acceptance rate of about 72%. Let’s look at some historical data for context.
| Applicants | Admits | Acceptance Rate | |
| Class of 2027 | 35,747 | 27,256 | 76% |
| Class of 2026 | 30,727 | 27.238 | 78% |
| Class of 2025 | 21,176 | 13,714 | 86% |
Thinking of transfering the JMU? You’re chances of acceptance are a bit better. Of the 1,780 undergraduate transfer applicants for the fall of 2024, JMU accepted 1,328, giving it a 74.6% transfer acceptance rate.
Who gets into JMU?
Let’s look at the demographics of JMU undergraduates.
For the enrolled Class of 2028, most students came from Virginia:
- Virginia residents: 69%
- Out-of-state students: 31%
Of the out-of-state students, the top feeder-states include:
- Pennsylvania
- Maryland
- New York
- Massachusetts
- Connecticut
Somewhat surprisingly, there were only 21 international students enrolled in the Class of 2028, representing a miniscule .4% of the incoming class.
Looking at ethnic identity, here’s the breakdown of the enrolled Class of 2028:
- White: 67%
- Hispanic: 10.9%
- Asian: 6.8%
- Black: 5.4%
- Two mor more races: 7.2%
The gender imbalance is marked at JMU. For the Class of 2028, women represented 53.4% of enrolled students while men comprised only 45.3%.
JMU Yield Rate
JMU’s yield rate, i.e., the percentage of accepted students who choose to enroll, stands at 18.2% for the Class of 2028. That represents a 10% point drop over the last decade.
JMU Admissions – GPA, SAT/ACT, and Class Rank
As JMU is an SAT/ACT test-optional school, only 14% of enrolled students in the Class of 2028 submitted SAT scores. Similarly, only 2.7% submitted ACT scores. Of those who did submit scores, the median SAT composite score for the Class of 2028 was 1260 and the median ACT score was 27.
Of the Class of 2028, nearly 19% of enrolled students were in the top tenth of their high school class. JMU does not collect GPA information, so that data are not available.
JMU Tuition
James Madison is a public university, which means that in-state students from Virginia will pay a markedly lower tuition than students from out of state. Tuition for in-state students increases little by little each year, however, and even in-staters saw a 3.7% increase in tuition from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Out-of-state students, by contrast, saw a 2.1% increase in tuition. Overall, these differences are very little when compared with the total cost. So, how spendy is JMU?
For the 2025鈥2026 academic year, tuition and fees will shake out like this:
- In-state: $14,300
- Out-of-state: $31,906
Obviously, the costs of a college education don鈥檛 just end with tuition. What about the price of living in Harrisonburg? If you鈥檙e living on campus or off campus, things might look differently in practice, but the National Center for Education Statistics estimates the same cost of living expenses for both sets of students. How costly is it? Well, for the 2025鈥2025 academic year, students will pay $14,212.
JMU Financial Aid
That said, financial aid is always going to be a big help for students who are thinking about taking on the investment of higher education.
At James Madison University in the 2022鈥2023 academic year, 90% of students received some sort of grant or scholarship aid and 34% took out some sort of loan.
With financial aid taken into account, the average net price for JMU was $26,317 per year.
JMU Notable Alumni
According to Melinda Wood, JMU鈥檚 associate vice president for access and enrollment management and director of admissions, JMU鈥檚 popularity has been on the rise. 鈥淥ur national reputation as well as a student-focused, hands-on approach to learning make JMU appealing,鈥 Wood said, 鈥渆specially when you couple that with a strong campus community that is known for its supportiveness. I think those are all reasons why JMU becomes an attractive choice for many applicants.鈥
And part of JMU鈥檚 popularity might have to do with the alumni who have matriculated through the university. Home to many professional athletes like football, softball, and soccer players, along with TV personalities and academics, here are some of the famous alumni who have called JMU home:
- Daniel Brown, football player for the New York Jets
- Steve Buckhantz, basketball play-by-play announcer for the Washington Wizards
- Lindsay Czarniak, ESPN anchor
- John DeFilippo, NFL quarterback coach
- Charles Haley, football player, Football Hall of Fame Inductee and five-time Super Bowl Champion for the Cowboys and 49ers
- Tiome Hurd, USA Olympian and American record holder in outdoor triple jump
- Christiana Julien, professional soccer player and member of the 2011 Canadian Women鈥檚 World Cup team
- Earl Watford and Josh Wells, both football players with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Marcia Angell, Harvard University Medical School faculty member
- Matt Bondurant, author of The Wettest Country in the World, professor at University of Texas at Dallas
- , University of Iowa professor who went TikTok viral at the University of Iowa
- Christina Tosi, owner of Momofuku Milk Bar and MasterChef judge
- Glennon Doyle, author of We Can Do Hard Things and podcast host
- Mark Jordan Legan, NPR correspondent
- Nathan Lyon, host of Discovery Health鈥檚 A Lyon in the Kitchen
- Reshma Shetty, actress, Royal Pains
- Ashley Iaconetti, TV personality, The Bachelor
- Jim Acosta, Senior White House Correspondent for CNN
- Emmett Hanger, Virginia State Senator
- Levar Stoney, Mayor Richmond, Virginia
- Scott Surovell, Virginia State Senator
Where is JMU?
JMU is located in Harrisonburg, Virginia, which is in the Shenandoah Valley and has a population of 51,164 people. Northwest of Richmond and southwest of Washington, D.C., students will find JMU accessible to the East Coast while also being a part of a campus community that is near Shenandoah National Park and George Washington and Jefferson National Forest.
In 2016, Harrisonburg was named the 鈥#6 Favorite Town in America鈥 by Travel + Leisure. Harrisonburg鈥檚 creative class has grown with the revitalization of its downtown district.
JMU Majors
James Madison University has more than 70 majors and 130 programs available for students to explore.
What are the most popular majors at JMU? Based on the data from U.S. News and World Report, some of the most popular majors include:
- Health Professions and Related Programs
- Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services
- Communication, Journalism, and Related Programs
- Social Sciences
- Psychology
- Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness, and Kinesiology
- Visual and Performing Arts
- Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services
- Liberal Arts and Sciences
- General Studies and Humanities, and
- Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies
Perhaps surprisingly, the major with the single highest number of enrolled students is health science with 1,338 students. That’s followed by nursing (1,474), finance (1,466), marketing (1,065), and business management (1,020).
JMU Acceptance Rate, Ranking, & Tuition – Final Thoughts
If you鈥檙e thinking about other schools in that east coast, Mid-Atlantic area, you鈥檒l want to check out the University of Maryland, UNC Chapel Hill, the University of Virginia, and the College of William and Mary. From smaller, liberal arts schools to some of the more elite public state schools in the country, the greater MDV region offers diverse options to all types of college applicants.
Ready to start working on your applications? Consider checking out the following:
