Outcomes
What it pays
Former students earn a median $69,954 ten years after enrolling, more than at 83% of colleges; 82% graduate within six years. Four years of net price is about 1.9 years of that salary.
Earnings
Earnings climb with time
Staying and finishing
Retention
come back for year two
Graduation
graduate within six years
National median graduation rate: 59%
What graduates owe
$20.1K
According to James Madison University's most recent Common Data Set, 48% of its Class of 2023 graduates (3,833 students) borrowed from any source: federal, institutional, state, or private, averaging $30,804 among those who did.
Counts students who started here as first-time students and earned a bachelor's; the federal median counts federal loans only, including students who left without a degree.
Everyone who starts here, 8 years later
Students who entered in fall 2016, including and part-time students. The graduation rate counts only first-time, full-time students and treats a transfer out as not finishing.
81 of 100 students who start here earn a degree or certificate here within 8 years; 14 more are enrolled at another college. (5,591 students)
All entering students, by whether they had a Pell Grant.
68 of 100 finish within 4 years, 80 within 6, and 81 within 8.
| Earned a credential within | 4 yrs | 6 yrs | 8 yrs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All students | 68% | 80% | 81% |
| Started in college here | 66% | 81% | 82% |
| Transferred in | 74% | 78% | 79% |
Transfer students' clock starts when they arrive here, not when they first started college.
National median: 60% of all entering students earn a credential at the college they started at within 8 years.
Do lower-income students finish?
Pell Grant recipients: 71%, 10 points below students with no need-based federal aid (81%). First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years; entered fall 2018.
- Pell Grant recipients659 students
71% · 10 points below students with neither
- Subsidized loan, no Pell Grant896 students
81% · 1 point below students with neither
- Neither Pell nor subsidized loan2,981 students
81% · comparison group
By race and ethnicity
First-time, full-time students who finished within 6 years, from the College Scorecard's most recent release. Groups under 30 students aren't shown.
- White3,447 students
81% · 1 point above all students
- Asian213 students
82% · 2 points above all students
- Hispanic/Latino308 students
74% · 5 points below all students
- Black198 students
69% · 11 points below all students
- Two or more races216 students
75% · 4 points below all students
- International63 students
78% · 2 points below all students
- American Indian/Alaska Native5 students
Not shown: under 30 students
- Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander4 students
Not shown: under 30 students
Cost vs. earnings
The 300 most-applied-to colleges plus James Madison University. Top-left is lower cost and higher earnings.
↑ Median earnings 10 years after entry (higher = more)
Sources:College Scorecard, most recent release;College Scorecard, Entered fall 2023;IPEDS Outcome Measures survey, Students entering fall 2016;IPEDS Graduation Rates survey (Pell Grant and subsidized loan recipients), Entered fall 2018;IPEDS Institutional Characteristics survey, 2023–24;IPEDS Student Financial Aid survey, 2023–24;James Madison University Common Data Set 2023–24, Class of 2023About the data(retrieved 2026-10-12)