JMU MAINTAINS 'U.S. NEWS' RANKING FOR 10TH YEAR

From: Media Relations

August 22, 2003

HARRISONBURG, Va. — For a decade now, James Madison University has held the top spot among public master's-level universities in the South in the annual U.S. News & World Report rankings.

In the national newsmagazine's America's Best Colleges 2004, JMU ranked third among all Southern master's universities, public and private. Ahead of JMU are two private schools, Virginia's University of Richmond and Florida's Rollins College, which ranked first and second overall, respectively, as they did last year.

Tuition and fees at both private schools are several times higher and their student enrollments are several times smaller than at JMU.

"Needless to say, I am pleased that JMU has again been recognized by U.S. News & World Report as the finest master's level, public university in the South and one of the top three universities among private and public universities," said JMU President Linwood H. Rose. "This continuing recognition of JMU's quality is a reflection of the outstanding faculty and student body at our university."

"The ranking underscores the great value that students receive in a JMU education," Rose added. This year annual costs for tuition, fees, room and board at JMU are $10,974 for Virginia students. At the three private universities that occupy the top four U.S. News spots with JMU, the comparable costs range from $28,000 to $34,300 a year.

"Clearly," Rose said, "JMU offers quality at a bargain price."

The category of "best universities-master's" ranks 573 institutions that offer a full range of undergraduate and master's-level programs but few or no doctoral programs. The 573 ranked universities are divided into four regions: North, South, Midwest and West.

The weekly newsmagazine also ranks 248 schools as "National Universities-Doctoral," 217 as "Liberal Arts Colleges-Bachelor's" and 324 as "Comprehensive Colleges-Bachelor's."

The magazine weighs indicators of academic quality in six areas for master's universities: peer assessment (25 percent), graduation and retention rates (25), faculty resources (20), student selectivity (15), financial resources (10) and alumni giving (5).

In all, 131 public and private, master's-level schools in 12 states are ranked in the South region. In addition to Richmond and JMU, other Virginia institutions listed are: Mary Washington, Mary Baldwin and Lynchburg colleges, and Hampton, Longwood, Marymount, Radford, Shenandoah, Averett, Liberty, Norfolk State and Virginia State universities.

Among the public master's institutions in the South, those ranked with JMU are:

1. James Madison University (Va.)
2. Mary Washington College (Va.)
3. The Citadel (S.C.)
4. Appalachian State University (N.C.)
5. College of Charleston (S.C.)
6. University of North Carolina-Wilmington
7. Murray State University (Ky.)
8. University of North Carolina-Charlotte
9. Winthrop University (S.C.)
10. Longwood University (Va.)

The top 10 of all Southern master's universities, public (in boldface) and private, were:

1. University of Richmond (Va.)
2. Rollins College (Fla.)
3. James Madison University (Va.)
4. Stetson University (Fla.)
5. Samford University (Ala.)
6. Loyola University New Orleans (La.)
6. Mary Washington College (Va.)
6. Mercer University (Ga.)
9. Elon University (N.C.)
10. Centenary College of Louisiana
10. The Citadel (S.C.)

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