800 South Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807
www.jmu.edu

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ABOUT JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY

Located in the Shenandoah Valley, James Madison University (JMU) is a comprehensive liberal arts university founded in 1908. JMU offers bachelors, masters, educational specialist and doctoral degrees. JMU is a student-focused university committed to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead productive and meaningful lives. Faculty and students share an unusually close relationship with an incredibly high level of student involvement in the classroom, the lab and activities around and off campus. The amount of undergraduate research in the sciences has been cited as peerless. With a grounding in the liberal arts, specialized knowledge, analytical skills, and the application of science and technology, students are equipped with the skills necessary to creatively address the issues and needs facing contemporary society.

JMU is open for business. Reaching beyond its campus, JMU is a focal point for economic development activity in the region. The university works closely with community development entities, state agencies, municipalities, regional planning agencies, developers, business leaders, chambers of commerce, and local officials providing a gateway to the university’s faculty and staff who specialize in areas of mutual interest. This ensures continuity of involvement at all levels of government, education, and business. Economic development is embraced as a component of the academic colleges of the university, thus providing resources unequaled in the region keeping the university at the forefront of economic prosperity for the Valley.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Public Service supports the university’s activities in research, technology transfer, outreach, engagement, and economic development. By encouraging collaboration and building strategic alliances, the Office of Research and Public Service strives to facilitate James Madison University into a new kind of research university.

In addition, JMU assists with economic development by offering credit and noncredit programming in the Valley as well as throughout the Commonwealth.  JMU offers an MPA in Roanoke, and several off-campus cohorts in the Masters in Reading Education and Masters of Educational Leadership.

SRI International, one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations based in California's Silicon Valley, recently opened its facility in the Shenandoah Valley's Rockingham County as the site for its Center for Advanced Drug Research, or CADRE.   SRI will partner with James Madison University and other Virginia institutions in state-of-the-art pharmaceutical research. SRI plans to add other high-technology programs in such areas as biothreats and homeland security, engineering, nanotechnology, energy, information technology and education at the Rockingham County site.

The Engineering major at James Madison University offers a unique undergraduate academic experience for aspiring engineers.  The curriculum provides an in-depth, hands-on, 4-year engineering program, which contains integrated business courses specifically for engineers.  Sustainability and sustainable design processes are a key component of the degree.  Unlike most traditional engineering programs, engineering at JMU is rooted to a strong, liberal arts core curriculum, while simultaneously preparing students to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering pre-licensure examination during their senior year.

JMU's collaborative approach in teaching and research encourages businesses to form these partnerships utilizing university resources such as equipment available in its laboratory facilities. Combined, these are enablers for a diverse and prosperous economic future for the Shenandoah Valley and the Commonwealth of Virginia as evidenced by a recent study investigating the impact of JMU on the City of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

RANKING

• First – Southern master’s universities, public & private with the highest graduation rate
• Second – Named as one of the best public master’s institutions in the South (U.S. News & World Report 2011 America’s Best Colleges )
• No. 19 nationally in The Kiplinger 100, a listing of best values in public colleges  (2011)
• Top 35 nationally for “undergraduate research/creative projects”  (U.S. News & World Report 2007 America’s Best Colleges)
• Ninth in the number of graduates earning Ph.D.s in the physical sciences and 13th in the life sciences among baccalaureate and master's degree institutions  (National Science Foundation summary for 1999-2004)
• The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching recognized JMU as a Community Engaged University in 2010.  The honor recognizes the “collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities…for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.” Only 8% of the nation’s colleges and universities have been given this designation.

• James Madison University is ranked as one of the top public, master’s-level university in the South in the annual poll on academic quality conducted by U.S. News & World Report for its guidebook, “2011 America’s Best Colleges.”
• Recognized by US News and World Report as a “Program to Look For – Undergraduate Research / Creative Projects”.
  
• JMU earned a place on the 2009 President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll for commitment to volunteering, service learning and civic engagement. The Corporation for National and Community Service and Campus Compact administer the federal government awards program.
• The U.S. News & World Report “2010 America’s Best Colleges” guidebook recognized JMU as one of 70 schools nationwide as a “School to Watch.” These schools are categorized as having recently made promising and innovative changes in academics, faculty, students, campus or facilities.
• Three JMU graduate programs are ranked in the 2009 edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools,” a guidebook published by U.S. News & World Report. JMU’s audiology program was ranked 19th in a grouping of 72 graduate programs. Four other programs were also ranked 19th in the category. The speech- language pathology program was ranked 38th– along with seven other schools at 38th –among 230 programs. JMU’s master of fine arts program was one of 16 programs ranked 134th among 220 programs in the nation.
• JMU placed No. 19 nationally in The Kiplinger 100, a listing of best values in public colleges – schools selected for their combination of “outstanding economic value with top-notch education” – published in the February 2011 issue of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance.
• Positive student feedback to BusinessWeek magazine places the JMU College of Business undergraduate business school 16th overall and fifth in the nation among public universities. The college remains in the top 5 percent of the ranking, with the undergraduate program climbing 10 slots from ranking 54 in 2008 to 44 in 2009.
• 2009 America's Best Colleges guidebook recognized JMU's "First-Year Experiences" in its "Programs to Look For" section. Madison's strong freshman orientation and first-year-in-college academic guidance programs were spotlighted as superior along with programs at 24 other public colleges in the nation.
• The Princeton Review's 2010 guide, America's Best Value Colleges, also selected JMU as one of the nation's best values for a college education.
• "In the midst of the stunning Shenandoah Valley lies a purple and gold gem" opens the review of JMU in The Insider's Guide to the Colleges 2007. "JMU is incredibly friendly," authors write. "Its social graces tend to alleviate what might otherwise be a stressful academic lifestyle. Additionally, the campus accommodates students' busy schedules exceedingly well." The guidebook highlights "full professors who hold consistent office hours and make themselves extremely accessible." In its "Bottom Line" on JMU, the Insider's Guide concludes: "JMU provides a terrific liberal arts education and continues its history of producing successful alumni today, while fostering an inclusive and high-spirited atmosphere that complements its beautiful area."

RESEARCH

James Madison University endeavors to develop a new kind of research university. One in which professors engage undergraduate students in research activities in the way that most research institutions involve graduate students and engages partners to pursue innovative solutions to issues facing society. To further cultivate this growth, James Madison University has created an enterprise wide research agenda that identifies seven broad categories of research. Not many universities possess the campus environment that would support the multi-disciplinary research culture found at JMU. Additionally, JMU has implemented an innovative approach to tech transfer which promotes innovation, enhances research by connecting inventors and industry, and fosters economic development through protecting and commercializing intellectual property in an efficient and effective manner to benefit the University, the Shenandoah Valley, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and society as a whole.

A spirit of innovation and creativity is spawned through the emphasis on collaboration. Innovative research centers and institutes facilitate JMU’s scholarly pursuits and outreach activities. A sample of these leading centers includes:

• Institute for Infrastructure and Information Assurance, which is an interdisciplinary research center that focuses on homeland and national security issues.
• Institute for Visual Studies, which will be a learning center and idea incubator for understanding the role of visualization and visualization technologies in learning and in society.
• Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services cultivates a unique and exciting blend of courses, workshops, clinics and community outreach programs to offer the important service and research opportunities.
• Center for International Stabilization and Recovery/Mine Action Information Center a public policy center which manages information and conducts training relevant to humanitarian mine clearance, victim assistance, mine risk reduction and other landmine-related issues.
• Institute for Stewardship of the Natural World leads the university's engagement with the expanding environmental concerns of its community and the world.
• Institute for Energy and Environmental Research at James Madison University builds on JMU's recognized leadership in the Commonwealth of Virginia for developing and implementing innovative alternative energy solutions and applied environmental research programs.

To learn more about JMU’s involvement in research and technology, please visit the Office of Research and Public Service website at http://www.jmu.edu/research.

FULLTIME ENROLLMENT
(Fall 2010): 19,434

UNDERGRADUATE TUITION 2011-2012 (PER SEMESTER): In-State: $4,224; Out-of-State: $10,869   
GRADUATE TUITION (PER CREDIT HOUR): In-State: $374; Out-of-State: $1,003

AFFILIATED SCHOOLS, COLLEGES, GRADUATE SCHOOLS

College of Arts and Letters
College of Business
College of Education
The Graduate School
College of Integrated Science and Technology
College of Science and Mathematics
College of Visual and Performing Arts

NUMBER OF DEGREES CONFERRED (2009-2010)

Bachelor's -- 3,733
Master's -- 629
PhD's -- 23

SELECTED DEGREES OFFERED * PhD's offered in other majors