GRADUATE EDUCATION, BOTH IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE REST OF THE WORLD, HAS INCREASED IN VALUE DRAMATICALLY OVER THE LAST HALF CENTURY.  As our economy has moved from one based on industry to one based on services and information, the importance of graduate education has escalated.

 

Society of the 21st century is technologically sophisticated, and graduate education is becoming increasingly crucial for our nation to maintain its place in the world economy. Expertise beyond the baccalaureate level is becoming a requisite in a growing number of fields.

Nearly 2 million students attend one of more than 1,800 graduate school programs in the United States, and that number is on the rise. Half a million graduate degrees are awarded annually, including 41,000 doctorates.

The benefits of graduate education are enormous. The programs contribute greatly to the technological and medical breakthroughs that make our society healthier, more secure and more comfortable. Graduate programs train the next generation of researchers, engineers, professors, writers, artists and health professionals. Graduate education provides a great financial advantage as well. Master's graduates earn an average of 19 percent more than bachelor's degree recipients, and doctoral graduates make about 71 percent more.

JMU's graduate program is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and the university will mark the occasion during October's Graduate Education Month.

Graduate education began rather modestly at JMU. President G. Tyler Miller, who had advocated a Madison graduate program at his inauguration in 1949, realized that goal when the State Board of Education approved a Master of Science in Education program, which opened in 1954 and conferred its first two degrees in June 1956.

The program expanded beyond teacher education in 1960 when the state board approved the Master of Science degree with a major in biology. A number of other master's degrees have been added since; and in 1980, the Education Specialist degree was approved.

In 1994, JMU moved to the doctoral level with the establishment of the Doctor of Psychology degree. Eight years later, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia authorized the university's first Doctor of Philosophy degree.  

In the 50 years since graduate education began at JMU, 6,000 Madison students have received advanced degrees.

Today, JMU's College of Graduate and Professional Programs offers 30 graduate programs providing 35 degrees: 28 on the master's level, three Educational Specialist degrees and four doctoral degrees. Five new graduate programs have been added since 2001, and three new programs will begin this fall: a master's in nursing, a master's in occupational therapy and a consortium master's program in public health.

Under the direction of Dean Bill Walker, enrollment in graduate programs has grown to 800 and is expected to increase to almost 1,000 this fall. More than 35 JMU doctorates have been awarded since doctoral work was first offered.

Around 63 percent of JMU's graduate students are Virginians, and 37 percent are from out of state. Some 70 percent of our graduates, however, remain in Virginia after completing their degree work, enriching the state's workforce.

JMU's primary role will continue to be that of providing undergraduate education, but the graduate program is a vitally important one that is essential to the mission of the university. Graduate programs at JMU are offered in disciplines that can complement already outstanding undergraduate programs. In addition, our programs seek to meet the societal and business needs of the Shenandoah Valley and to provide specialized graduate training that is not widely available at other universities in the state.

One of the university's defining characteristics directly addresses graduate education: "The university will offer graduate programs of distinction."

This is indeed the case. Several JMU graduate programs are nationally recognized for their quality and innovativeness. Our programs consistently exceed accreditation standards set by their professional associations. Graduate programs feature low student-to-faculty member ratios, encouraging mentoring relationships. The average graduate class size is 10.

The JMU graduate program provides both challenge and opportunity for our students, allows faculty members to broaden their mentoring skills by working with advanced students, and enriches the commonwealth by producing a steady flow of highly educated contributors to society. The program that had humble beginnings in 1954 has grown in the ensuing 50 years into a key and essential part of James Madison University.

 

 

 

Linwood H. Rose

President