BRidge to Madison - Welcome

Welcome!

James Madison University (JMU) and Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) are very excited about our partnership in offering this unique opportunity.

What is the BRidge to Madison program?

The BRidge to Madison (Bridge) program is an invitation-only program designed for a select group of prospective JMU students who begin their academic studies at Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) while living and engaging as a JMU Duke at James Madison University. The collaboration between JMU and BRCC allows students to make academic progress in their first-year general education courses and, upon successful completion, transition to JMU courses at the start of the second academic year culminating in a JMU degree.

Invited students have been deemed by the JMU Admissions Office as showing academic promise as degree-seeking JMU students after successful completion of appropriate BRCC coursework. Bridge students have the opportunity to experience many of the activities and privileges of attending JMU while taking advantage of the excellent academic offering and often smaller class sizes at BRCC.  Students must complete the Bridge Transition requirement of the program in order to transition to degree-seeking at JMU.

Our JMU and BRCC staff are excited about this new partnership and its opportunities for future Dukes. We are committed to providing students with the educational experiences for success. 

Program Overview

You will find detailed information on this website, but below is an overarching summary.

• Select students are invited to join the Bridge to Madison program by the JMU Admissions Office.
• Students accepting the invitation live in a dormatory on the JMU campus and have access to JMU student activities and services.
• Bridge students take first-year courses at BRCC through their vehicle or the BRITE shuttle service that runs between BRCC and JMU throughout the day.
• Students are assigned an academic advisor and have access to learning resources at BRCC and JMU to help them successfully transfer to JMU beginning their second academic year.
• Credits and GPA must be earned at BRCC after high school graduation. All transferrable courses must have an earned grade of "C" or better to count towards Bridge requirements for JMU admission. Students meeting Bridge requirements will be admitted to JMU for the subsequent fall semester without being required to resubmit a JMU admission application. Students who do not meet these requirements are encouraged to apply for admission to JMU at a later date.
• Credits earned at BRCC with the grade of "C" or better transfer to JMU. Grades earned at BRCC are not included in the student's JMU grade point average (GPA).
• Upon completing a minimum of 24 BRCC credit hours and earning a GPA of 3.0, students continue their studies at JMU to earn a 4-year JMU degree.

We invite you to browse through the website for detailed information.