James Madison University
Public Research University in Harrisonburg, VA. Six-year graduation rate 80%. Median 10-year earnings $69,954.
A decade after enrolling, the median James Madison University student earns $69,954 — comfortably above what the typical bachelor's-granting institution returns. Completion is a strength: 80% of students finish within six years. Debt at graduation runs to a median of $20,093, neither a bargain nor a burden.
Earnings: College Scorecard, median ten years after entry across students who received federal aid — completers and non-completers alike.
- ✓ Debt-to-income ratio 0.29 — healthy (below the 0.40 threshold)
- ✓ Graduation rate 80% — well above the national average
- ✓ 3-year loan default 0.0% — below national benchmark
- ! Mobility score 0.7 — limited economic uplift documented
Admissions
72% of applicants get in, so the odds favor most reasonably prepared students. 38,428 students applied, a pool deep enough to make the acceptance rate meaningful. Yield is low at 18%, so most admitted students do not end up enrolling. Read the score bands below narrowly: only 14% of enrolled first-years submitted an SAT score, and test-optional applicants are not represented in them.
Test score bands (middle 50% of submitters)
These bands describe the enrolled first-years who submitted a score, not the entering class. Where most students apply test-optional the submitters are a self-selected, higher-scoring group.
| Test | 25th–75th percentile | Submitted |
|---|---|---|
| SAT Evidence-Based Reading | 600–680 | 721 (14%) |
| SAT Math | 570–660 | |
| ACT Composite | 24–29 | 133 (3%) |
IPEDS Admissions · 2024
Apply at James Madison University →Academics
A 80% six-year graduation rate is the strongest academic signal on this page. First-year retention of 92% shows the cohort holds together through the hardest year. The two rates sit near each other: few students who return for a second year are missing from the six-year completion figure. A 17:1 ratio is unremarkable; expect a mix of lecture halls and seminars. This is a public four-year university, so read every rate on this page against that peer group specifically.
Financial Aid
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · grant and loan rates against 20,497 degree- or certificate-seeking undergraduates
Students pay an average of $18,856 annually once grants are applied. Aid is steeply need-based: families in the $0–30k band pay $11,444 while those at $110k+ pay $30,147. 43% get grants, which means the net price above will not apply to most applicants. About 30% borrow federally, roughly the national pattern.
Entering first-year students
A different, smaller group than the rates above: full-time students in their first year of college anywhere. The grant series here also excludes the "other sources" counted in the all-undergraduate figure, so the two are not comparable.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24 · 4,916 students
Net price by family income
The same students as the headline above, limited to those who received Title IV federal aid — a narrower group, with a lower overall average. IPEDS publishes no combined figure across these bands, so they should not be averaged into one.
| Family income band | Average net price |
|---|---|
| $0–30k | $11,444 |
| $30–48k | $12,977 |
| $48–75k | $16,475 |
| $75–110k | $22,343 |
| $110k+ | $30,147 |
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Federal student loans went to 6,099 of these 20,497 students, totalling $36,131,585 — an average of $5,924 each.
IPEDS Student Financial Aid · 2023-24
Local housing costs
Typical rents near campus (Harrisonburg City) — budget these against any cost-of-attendance housing estimate.
HUD Fair Market Rents (40th-percentile gross rent incl. utilities) · FY2026
Veterans & GI Bill
VA GI Bill Comparison Tool (Veterans Affairs GIDS)