WELCOME TO JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY!

The entire campus would like to extend the warmest welcome to you and we look forward to having you enrich our campus community. Our university has been nationally recognized for its strong academic programs and is housed on one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. The 2006 poll on academic quality by U.S. News & World Report again ranked JMU first in the South among public, master's level universities. JMU consistently has been ranked among the top master's level universities in its region since the U.S. News polls began in 1983. JMU also has the highest graduation rate - 80 percent - overall among public and private colleges in the South. JMU ranked 17th in The Kiplinger 100, a listing of best values in public colleges. The Princeton Review's 2006 guide, Best 361 Colleges, quotes students as recognizing the school's "welcoming environment, " friendly and outgoing student body," and "well-raked academics." JMU faculty are praised for their "willingness to extend learning outside of the classroom" and their "realistic method of teaching to prepare students for real-world job applications."

James Madison University, established in 1908 and located in Harrisonburg , Virginia , is a four-year university of liberal arts with a strong commitment to professional and pre-professional programs. Our institution has grown in nearly 100 years from a small state teachers college to its present-day status as an innovative public university with more than 15,000 students. The city of Harrisonburg is an attractive community of approximately 42,000 in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, 120 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The university's 472-acre campus offers a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Alleghenies on the west. The mountains provide opportunities for skiing, hiking and caving.

In this western region of the state, average temperatures range from 33F (0 C) in January to 82F (27 C) in July. There is below-freezing weather and snow in winter and daytime high temperatures above 90F (32 C) in mid-summer.