PROFILE: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, HARRISONBURG, VA

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1 PROFILE: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY, HARRISONBURG, VA This is one of a series of U.S. college and university profiles for and it will be continually updated as new information becomes available to prospective students and their families as well as the author. Statistics provided for this profile have been provided from a variety of sources, most notably the U.S. Department of Education and the school itself. Any use or reproduction of this profile without the expressed permission of the author is prohibited. Background and History of James Madison University Unlike many top-performing public institutions, James Madison University (JMU) is not a national research university, but a regional institution that primarily focuses on undergraduate education. Although school s history dates back to 1908 when it was founded as the State Normal and Industrial School for Women, James Madison did not receive university status until In 1924 it was designated a state teacher s college then renamed Madison College in 1938 after James Madison, a Virginian, and fourth president of the United States. By 1970, Madison College was the largest teacher s college in Virginia and also granted nursing degrees. Much of the changes at Madison College that led to its evolution into James Madison University came under the leadership of Dr. Ronald Carrier, the fourth president of the college, who served from 1971 through By the time Carrier retired, James Madison had earned more than university status. The undergraduate student body more than quadrupled in size to 16,000 students, an expansive East Campus, primarily to support education in engineering, nursing and the sciences, had been built and university had launched its first doctoral degree programs. And, while the university did not field a football team until 1972, the James Madison University Dukes won a national championship in the NCAA Playoff Subdivision in Under the leadership of current president Linwood Rose, who is scheduled to step down in 2012, the university has added 25 buildings, 20 academic programs, expanded 2.4 million square feet, increased enrollment by 37 percent and established a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. The fouryear graduation rate has also increased by 6 percent to 64 percent since Rose took office in The original campus made of bluestone has been well preserved although the campus has grown to the point where the football stadium is at the center. Freshman classes have also more than doubled in size since the early 1990 s. Today, James Madison welcomes a freshman class of between 3,900 and 4,000 students. Although JMU is considered a regional university, it is more similar to two national research universities, the University of Delaware and Miami University of Ohio, which have student bodies of similar size, offer a similar selection of majors (aside from agriculture programs at

2 Delaware, which is the state s land grant school, and education programs at James Madison, which is in a state that requires new teachers to have master s degrees) and they even share similar elements of architectural design. JMU s academic performance is right between the two institutions, though closer to Miami s than Delaware s. The SAT ranges are about the same, too. All three schools also place more emphasis on teaching undergraduates than on granting doctoral degrees. Miami grants doctorates in 13 subjects, though none in business or engineering. Five are in disciplines in biology, two in education and education administration. JMU grants doctorates in only six subjects and three are in disciplines of psychology. However, Delaware is a flagship state university that offers doctorates in 43 subjects. Applicants to all three of these schools and it s reasonable to expect some from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania may believe that each of these schools are the same, but they are quite different. JMU, like Miami, offers more opportunities to undergraduates to do research with faculty than the University of Delaware and other flagship universities, because there are far fewer doctoral students around to do it. But while JMU is similar academically to Miami, which has been called a Public Ivy, since the mid 1980 s and has as many students as Delaware, also considered a Public Ivy since the start of the 2000 s, it is held in different regard. While U.S. News ranks neither Delaware nor Miami of Ohio among its top 50 research universities, it has consistently ranked James Madison as the top regional public university in the South. JMU has also been frequently listed as a Best Value in Kiplinger s college issues. The school also ranks first among master s degree granting schools, for the production of doctoral degree earners from 2000 through 2009 in a survey conducted and jointly funded by several organizations including the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others. James Madison is also one of only three dozen U.S. public colleges and universities that retains no less than 90 percent of its freshmen and graduates no less than three quarters of them within six years. This performance is also slightly better than either Miami or Delaware. More than two-thirds of the freshman class that entered in 2004 graduated within four years, while 79 percent finished in five. This performance is also better than larger schools such as the University of Delaware, the University of Maryland-College Park and Rutgers University-New Brunswick. Admissions More college-bound freshman applied to James Madison than any other four-year public college or university in Virginia in The university received more than 22,000 applications, accepted 13,300, or 60 percent, to fill a class of around 4,000 students. Another 2,000 were offered a place on the waiting list, and 450 were later offered admission. Seventy percent of James Madison students come from Virginia. The Washington D.C. suburbs supply the largest contingent of students followed by the Richmond metropolitan area then the Virginia Beach region. Maryland sends the largest number of students from out-of-state followed by New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. In addition, JMU has been attracting more

3 applicants from New England states, according to Michael Walsh, the university s director of admissions. In-state and out-of-state applicants are considered in separate pools. While applicants to James Madison apply to Virginia, William and Mary and Virginia Tech, they also consider George Mason University, which is near Washington D.C., as well as Virginia Commonwealth University, located in downtown Richmond, and the University of Mary Washington, located further south off I-81. The University of Richmond, a private liberal arts college, is also cross-shopped against JMU. Among out-of-state schools considered by applicants, the University of Delaware is the most popular, followed by the University of Maryland-College Park and Rutgers University-New Brunswick. The University of South Carolina is also a major competitor. In addition, while many out-of-state applicants, especially those with financial need, turn down James Madison in favor of their home state university, 16 percent elect to attend an Ivy League school or another similarly regarded national research university. Students will choose another school for reasons of cost, ranking or closeness to home, Michael Walsh says. The low yield rate confirms these points; applicants are considering James Madison no more than equally against other schools. The median SATs for Math and Critical Reading at James Madison are 1140, slightly below the medians of flagship schools such as Delaware and Rutgers-New Brunswick and more than 100 points below the median for UVa, Virginia Tech, Binghamton, Maryland or UNC-Chapel Hill. The 25-to-75 percent SAT range at JMU is 1090 to 1290, though 70 percent of entering students had a Critical Reading score below 600. The ranges for George Mason and the University of Mary Washington are 50 and 40 points lower. The range at Virginia Commonwealth is lower, but broader; it is between 980 and It s quite possible that JMU is taking students who cannot get into a flagship state school in their home state as well as those who regard the school equally to their home state university. A student who might find themselves just below the middle of the pool at UVa, William and Mary, UNC-Chapel Hill or Maryland might find themselves in the upper quarter of the pool at JMU. Those are the people who are most likely to receive merit-based aid. James Madison does not offer an early decision option, though students may apply early action, which is non-binding. One advantage to Virginians who apply early action: those admitted are eligible to be considered for Dingledine Scholarships which provide up to full in-state tuition for four years. In addition there are merit-based Madison Achievement Awards as well as 2 nd Century Scholarships for students in STEM majors. These awards are based on grades, test scores and demonstrated interest. JMU does not use the Common Application, however their online application process is very simple. Only one academic letter of recommendation is required. The personal statement is optional. Associate degree holders are given priority in the transfer admissions process.

4 Costs In state tuition and fees at James Madison in are slightly more than $8,800 a year, lower than those of Virginia s other leading public universities: UVa, William and Mary and Virginia Tech. Oddly enough, JMU tuition and fees are also reported to be lower than those at George Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Mary Washington, which are also competitors for students. School Tuition and Mandatory Fees James Madison University $ 8,448 Christopher Newport University $ 9,528 College of William and Mary $ George Mason University $ 9,266 Old Dominion University $ 8,144 Radford University $ 8,320 University of Mary Washington $ 9,016 University of Virginia $11,576 Virginia Commonwealth University $ 9,517 Virginia Military Institute $13,184 Virginia State University $ 7,090 Virginia Tech $ The U.S. Department of Education also collects data on the Average Net Price--total costs for tuition, room, board and estimated charges for books and incidentals less grants and scholarships--for these schools. This is also broken down by income bracket. Below were the Average Net Prices for each of these schools to families with an income between $75,001 and $110,000 in , as well as the percent discount this represents from the total costs of attendance at that school. This can be used to show how far a school will go to reduce costs for a middle or upper-middle income family before asking the student to work or take out loans. School Avg. Net Price % Discount from In-State Student Estimated Total Family Income $75,001 Costs to $110, James Madison University $ 18,325 5% Christopher Newport University $ 18,704 13% College of William and Mary $ 20,231 8% George Mason University $ 15,491 20% Old Dominion University $ 13,866 20% Radford University $ 16,232 9% University of Mary Washington $ 17,485 5% University of Virginia $ 18,792 11% Virginia Commonwealth University $ 20,972 12%

5 Virginia Military Institute $ 15,084 27% Virginia State University $ 14,686 13% Virginia Tech $ 19,911 10% The cost difference, presuming no merit-based aid, between JMU, UVa, and Virginia Tech was minimal; it was less than $1,000 for either school. However, it can also be seen that some schools, notably George Mason, Old Dominion, Radford, Mary Washington and Virginia Military institute, will be willing to discount more to get a student who might also be considering JMU. Another measure of cost is the debt-to-degree ratio, compiled by Education Sector, a nonpartisan, non-profit education policy organization based in Washington D.C. The ratio represents the average amount borrowed to complete a degree. Generally, the greater the amount of scholarship aid or the lower the tuition and fees, combined with the greater likelihood that a student will graduate on time, the lower the ratio will be. It can be seen from the table below that JMU had a higher debt-to-degree ratio than several other Virginia public schools, including all but one competitor for students: Virginia Commonwealth. This may suggest that in-state applicants at the top of JMU s pool consider going to UVa, William and Mary or Virginia Tech because those schools have more resources towards need-based financial aid. It may also suggest that schools like George Mason and Mary Washington compete quite aggressively as well, though they may be looking at students who are lower down in the GMU pool. School Average Debt-to-Degree Ratio James Madison University $15,925 Christopher Newport University $16,230 College of William and Mary $10,555 George Mason University $12,036 Old Dominion University $20,213 Radford University $14,365 University of Mary Washington $12,092 University of Virginia $ 7,082 Virginia Commonwealth University $18,692 Virginia Military Institute $12,605 Virginia State University $40,693 Virginia Tech $12,831 Room and board charges at JMU add just over $8,100, low for a state university. Add $4,000 for books, transportation and other incidentals and the total cost will be just under $21,000, quite reasonable compared to state universities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, but higher than most Southern public schools. Out-of-state students pay just under $22,000 for tuition and mandatory fees; their total costs will be around $34,000, around the same as the out-of-state charges at Virginia Tech, but less

6 than the total out-of-state charges at schools such as Delaware, Maryland, Penn State, U-Conn, U-Mass and Rutgers-New Brunswick. The difference in out-of-state charges between these schools and JMU could be over $30,000 over the next four years for applicants who do not qualify for need-based financial aid or a merit scholarship. As of February 2010, the market value of JMU s endowment was approximately $40 million according to the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Given that a school typically spends no more than five percent of the market value of their endowment, the resources available for institutionally-sponsored scholarships are limited. By comparison, George Mason University had a slightly larger endowment ($42 million). Virginia Tech s endowment, to provide further contrast, was over $450 million and the College of William and Mary s was around $495 million. Virginia Commonwealth, another publicly supported competitor, had an endowment valued at over $250 million. Curriculum JMU organizes their general education requirements into five clusters, which are: Skills for the 21 st Century-Critical Thinking, Human Communication and Writing: This includes three courses for nine credits as well as two information literacy tests in expository writing, critical thinking and interpersonal communications/presentation skills. Arts and Humanities- Human Questions and Contexts, Visual and Performing Arts and Literature; every student must take three courses in this area for nine credits. The Natural World: Math, Natural Sciences and Physical Sciences; every student must take three courses for nine to 12 credits. Social and Cultural Processes: U.S. History and Government and Global Issues; every student must take two courses in this area for six credits. Individuals in the Human Community: Wellness and Socio-Cultural Dimensions of Individuals; every student must take two courses in this area for six credits. In total, the courses required to satisfy requirements under each of the five clusters would comprise a third of all credits required to complete a degree, leaving room for students to add minors or a second major. The clusters offer a broad selection of courses so that a non-science major will not be forced into a large lecture science course or calculus (unless they are enrolled in the business school). JMU has only two classrooms that seat at least 200 students, so the larger general education classes typically enroll eighty students or less. Math and English classes are capped at 35. All courses are taught by faculty, though undergraduates may assist the professors in research and pre-class preparations. In addition, approximately 200 students are invited to participate in an honors program as freshmen. This includes honors housing as well as honors-level courses (one per semester), priority registration and a Senior Honors Project.

7 The major educational investments appear to be in the science and health related fields as well as business, education, fine arts and media studies. The East Campus, which is relatively new, is the science campus. More than ten percent of JMU students are enrolled in the health sciences programs which include athletic training, communicative sciences and disorders, dietetics, kinesiology and nursing, among other subjects, while an equal percentage of the students choose a STEM (science, technology, engineering or mathematics) major. One stand-out program at JMU is Integrated Science and Technology, also known as ISAT, which has its own building and takes a cross-disciplinary approach to solving real-world science problems with a capstone project at the end. ISAT is a major although there are two other majors within the department: Geographic Science and Intelligence Analysis. These programs are unique to any school, let alone a regional public university. JMU has also launched a College of Engineering which will graduate its first class in Engineering, like ISAT, is a cross-disciplinary major. While engineering students would take the same introductory courses that they would also take in an engineering program such as Virginia Tech s, the advanced courses are not tied to traditional specialties such as chemical engineering, civil engineering or mechanical engineering. Sustainability issues are a part of the engineering curriculum. Bloomburg Business Week ranked the JMU business school third among publicly supported under graduate business programs in terms of return on investment. Unique to the school is a 12 credit course, called College of Business 300 (COB 300), which is taken during the first semester of the junior year, before students go further into their major coursework. COB 300 is a team-based class with 12 hours of classwork each week that culminates into the development of a business plan which is judged by academics, students and professionals. The best plans are entered into a spring competition where teams may compete for cash prizes. COB 300 has been a required business course for more than a decade. It is impressive for a school to take on such an ambitious course, especially a fairly large one where more than a fifth of the student body studies business. JMU business students also get a true feeling of what it really takes to succeed in business; they are risking credits and their grades to achieve the upside. Students who perform poorly in COB 300 might need to consider another major; the downside carries through to graduation, and so does the upside. Because Virginia requires teachers to have master s degrees, JMU offers a five-year program leading to a Master of Arts in Teaching, where students earn an undergraduate degree as well as the masters. While students who are interested In teaching careers will need to spend the extra year in school, they will be at an advantage if they want to work in Virginia public schools; they will be marketable to more school districts than experienced teachers who are pursuing the advanced degree at night. The visual and performing arts are also well-supported at JMU with the opening of the Forbes Center for Performing Arts. The center, which recently won a Merit Award from the U.S. Institute for Theatre Technology, is comprised of the Dorothy Thomasson Estes Center for Theatre and Dance and the Shirley Hanson Roberts Center for Music Performance and houses

8 five state-of-the-art performance venues: the Mainstage Theatre (450 seats), the Concert Hall (600 seats), the Recital Hall (196 seats), the Studio Theatre (200 seats) and the Earlynn J. Miller Dance Theatre (200 seats). It also includes classroom, rehearsal and office facilities. The center is as impressive as any facility found at a larger and better known university. Ninety percent of the productions at Forbes have been student productions, says Michael Walsh. The plus side of the applied hands-on programs at JMU is obvious. There is an in-class exposure to problem solving that one cannot get in a more traditional curriculum, as well as opportunities for students to build up credentials while pursuing their degrees. However, students must also complete their general education requirements early, within the first two years if at all possible, in order to take advantage of these opportunities. Prospective students should ask about the bridge courses offered between the freshman year and the junior year that may help them choose their degree program before they jump into a sequence of problemsolving classes. Eighty percent of the student body that graduates has participated in a research project, a practicum, or for education candidates, student teachings. JMU has a student-faculty ratio of 16 to 1, which is calculated by counting all of the full-time faculty as well as one-third of the part-time faculty. This ratio is the same as the University of Delaware, but it is lower than the ratio for the University of Maryland or Virginia Tech, among other schools. Comforts JMU provides on-campus housing for around 6,300 students, more than one-third, but less than one-half of the student body. The school requires all freshmen not living with family to live on campus, though they are not permitted to have cars. About half of the freshmen who return for their sophomore year will live on campus; the rest move off campus or join fraternities or sororities. The modern sorority houses on the west side of campus are clustered around a lake, while fraternities find rental homes off campus. Corridor-style or suite style dorm arrangements are available. Suite-style options have three bedrooms around a common area and bathroom, though there are quad suites as well. There are four suites to a floor. Corridor-style dorms have 10 rooms to a floor. Every dorm has housekeeping services; students who live in suite-style housing do not need to clean bathrooms. All dorms are co-ed, although the floors are single sex. Not all dorms are air conditioned and most are not Wi-Fi enabled, though the common area spaces, including lounges in hall ways and suites are. The university owns no on-campus apartments. Students are assisted in finding off-campus housing, typically around $350 per month with utilities to share a house topping out around $500 to share a townhome. However, most off-campus housing is not within walking distance of campus. Students drive, although parking is limited, or they may ride public buses which circulate throughout the campus. The problem, however, with so few students living oncampus, is that the JMU campus, with parking at the edges, better resembles a commuter school, an image that the university administration would probably prefer to avoid.

9 One concern for the future is the business community in Harrisonburg is attempting to attract firms that will hire JMU graduates, work with the faculty and create new jobs. These workers will need housing, and they earn higher incomes than college students. If the local housing market shifts more towards working professionals, rents to students will rise. JMU will likely need to add at least one dormitory, at least to keep more sophomores on campus, or construct apartment housing for upper class students. Community The JMU campus is easily navigable on foot, as long as you live close by academic buildings or find a parking space close to them. Students who live by the Bluestone Campus and have classes there will have a get out of bed and head off to class experience, as they would have at a smaller school. The Bluestone Campus, so named for the stone that forms the buildings, is the original quad for the university and the home for most of the liberal arts courses. It is exceptionally well maintained. The design of the Forbes Center, while new, matches the color and texture of the bluestone buildings and completes the quad quite nicely. The development of the East Campus has also put the football stadium at the center of the school. Recently upgraded to 25,000 seats, Bridgeforth Stadium is the largest facility in the Colonial Athletic Conference (CAA), which includes schools such as Appalachian State, Delaware and Villanova, all of which have been national championships in NCAA Playoff-Subdivision Football along with JMU. JMU won the crown in 2004 and made playoff appearances in 2006, 2007, 2008, and The CAA has also been an extremely competitive mid-major conference in college basketball. JMU rivals George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth reached the NCAA Final Four in 2006 and The JMU women s basketball team was conference champions in 2010 and In addition to football and basketball, JMU plays 15 other sports. The university s first national title was in women s field hockey in JMU and UVa are the only Virginia schools who have fielded baseball teams that have reached the College World Series since The JMU baseball team was conference champion. Fans cheer for the Dukes by throwing purple and gold streamers and motioning like a baseball umpire declaring a base runner safe at home. Those who concentrate in the health and science programs will likely ride buses across a bridge that spans over an interstate highway. The bridge design muffles noise quite well and there are sidewalks for those who would prefer to walk or run, but it clearly shows a boundary between the East Campus and the rest of the school. The contrasts in architecture between 21 st century buildings on the East Campus and the rest of the school add to a perception that JMU is two schools, one for the science majors, the other for everyone else. The idea of being so close to an interstate may concern prospective students and their families, but the campus is amply secured. The Bluestone campus, in particular, is gated in the evenings and closed to automobile traffic the rest of the time.

10 JMU is a relatively safe campus, according to the university s 2011 Clery Report. The most serious crimes, by far, are alcohol-related referrals of which 573 were reported on campus in There were also 98 alcohol-related arrests on campus as well. There were fewer than 50 drug-related arrests each year from 2008 through Oddly enough, for a school so close to a highway, there have been only three incidents of motor vehicle theft from 2008 through 2010 as well as fewer than 25 burglaries in each of those years. There were, however, five reported forcible sex incidents in 2010, compared with none in With a small road network and parking primarily at lots on the edges of campus, JMU is laid out to be an easy place for police to patrol and respond quickly. The newest buildings on the East campus are brightly lit, as are parking lots. The university also uses strobe-style lighting on East Campus to brilliantly illuminate crosswalks between buildings and parking. Because of the academic mix on each campus, the university has constructed two student centers. The Taylor Center, closest to the residence halls, host comedians and other entertainers in Taylor Down Under a basement lounge and also has an event terrace on the top floor. The Taylor Center also operates a movie theatre where students may see recently run movies for only $2.50. The other, the Festival Center, which is on the East Campus, hosts conferences and also offers an excellent selection in meals for everyone. Being only two hours from Washington D.C., Harrisonburg is trying to build its economic development around the university, and the strategy is beginning to show success. The city has launched a Downtown Technology Zone as well as a Technology Park. The Stanford Research Institute (SRI), among other firms, chose Harrisonburg as a place of business and launched some academic partnerships with JMU. The university advertises that downtown Harrisonburg is only ten minutes from campus, though the walk is actually longer, too long for most students to bother. But there is the beginning of an eclectic mix of after-hours bars and restaurants on Main Street as well as retail shopping for those who have cars. But outside of the downtown, Harrisonburg has every retail or restaurant chain that can be found in a well-to-do suburban community, again provided a car is available. Connections James Madison has around 108,000 living alumni; most have graduated since the school expanded to university status. The greater institutional memory, while of a school with fewer students in the past, is of an emerging public university as opposed to a women s college or a teacher s college. Alumni from the late 1970s through the 1980s are reaching their maximum earnings potential and have children who are also considering college, including JMU. The largest segment of the alumni base resides in the Baltimore-Washington area. Other large alumni communities are located in Richmond, the Tidewater region, Charlotte and the Shenandoah Valley. The university has also doubled the size of its digital footprint within the past two years. There is a LinkedIn network with over 8,000 members as well as a Facebook page with more than 7,000 likes. The university also has more than 3,000 followers on Twitter. The success of the football

11 program has also helped to drive alumni interest in the school. Being located only two hours from Washington D.C., alumni return to attend home games at Bridgeforth Stadium. With general admission seats being only $10, tickets sell very fast during good seasons. As a school with well-developed pre-professional programs, JMU has a one-credit course managed by the Office of Career and Academic Planning to help students choose their major and do research towards possible careers. Career and Internship Fairs take place in the fall and spring semesters as well as a Teacher Recruitment Day in the spring. The office also works with the School of Accounting to help run an event for accounting majors in the fall. In addition, original online content linking each academic program to possible careers, as well as personality traits and interests, is very well developed. Alumni may also receive career counseling and apply for posted jobs that are targeted to them on Recruit-A-Duke, the university s online job board. Conclusion James Madison University takes some interesting approaches to higher education, and they appear to be working. While it is not the least cost institution for Virginians, it is an attractive buy for in-state students as well as out-of-state students who cannot gain admission to their home state university or prefer to go to a smaller state-supported school. But, in addition to limited institutional resources for financial aid, JMU has two major weaknesses. The on-campus housing options are too limited for a large undergraduate student body while the surrounding area offers apartments and homes that are not within walking distance of the campus. In addition, JMU is a lesser known name within a region of that includes schools such as UVa, William and Mary, the University of Maryland, George Washington University, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. The university will need to add resources to help their best students, as well as alumni, break through. But this school has been quite aggressive at media relations. JMU publications are first-rate, as good as those of any flagship university, and the university built an impressive visitors center to welcome employers as well as prospective students on the same site. James Madison University has gotten beyond the up and coming label. It has been a top performer for more than 15 years. It will likely remain one by remaining a more hands-on institution than UVa or Virginia Tech, since there are few graduate students and undergraduates may work more closely with the faculty. This will not be an easier school to get through, but it is one where students who display a willingness to learn are amply rewarded.

12 REPORT CARD: JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY Costs: A 20 points Pluses Reasonable total costs for an in-state or out-of-state student Dingledine Scholarships are incredible value Opportunities for on-campus employment are abundant Minuses Limited institutional resources for merit and need-based aid for a school of this size Comforts: B 12 points Pluses Freshman are guaranteed housing Modern residence hall designs Residences within easy walking distance of Bluestone Campus Reasonable room and board charges for a state university Minuses Not all dorms have A/C Dorms are not Wi-Fi enabled Only 6,300 beds, forcing sophomores to move off-campus as well as juniors and seniors No on-campus apartment housing Private residences are reasonably priced, but not within walking distance of campus. Community: B+ 16 points Pluses

13 Winning football program in competitive conference Impressive program offerings within two student centers Campus is immaculate, easy to navigate, walkable and very well lit, creating high perception of safety Harrisonburg attempting aggressive economic development strategy that could result in jobs for graduates and faculty research opportunities Modern and impressive athletic and performing arts facilities Minuses Campus is separated by an interstate highway, though a well-lit bridge spans over it Limited shopping and social opportunities in Harrisonburg for students without cars Curriculum: A 20 points Pluses Innovative hands-on learning programs in various majors Strong offerings in business, education and STEM subjects General education requirements not terribly cumbersome Modern performing arts center has helped upgrade arts offerings on campus Ample opportunities to conduct scholarly research with faculty Minuses Smaller school means smaller number of majors than a flagship state school Engineering program is brand new, might be difficult to attract recruiters in early years Bomb in College of Business 301 and you cannot be a business major. You might also need to stay another semester or year to finish another major. Connections: B+ 16 points

14 Pluses Growing alumni community of more than 100,000 members with strong base in the DC Metro Area. New alumni building Impressive online career services Minuses GMU has become a name, but its alumni base in DC can be crowded out by alumni bases of larger and better known schools in the area. TOTAL SCORE: 84 points