People are becoming more value conscious and can’t justify outrageous private college tuition, so all in state schools are more competitive.

Anonymous wrote:Tech was a safety school for us when my spouse and I enrolled at JMU in the 80’s.

Not in the 90s. It was the backup school to Tech then, but better than Radford.

Anonymous wrote:Tech was a safety school for us when my spouse and I enrolled at JMU in the 80’s.

I remember that. Obviously JMU was on a growth trajectory in the past 30 years
Fall 1992 undergraduate enrollment
JMU 10,065
VT 18,860
UVA 12,614
WM 5,456
GMU 13,099

Fall 2025 undergrad and % increase
JMU 21,358/112%
VT 31,536/67%
UVA 17,835/41%
WM 6,951/27%
GMU 29,522/125%
https://research.schev.edu/enrollment/E2_Report.asp

Anonymous wrote:It’s definitely been very popular for Virginia students. Large numbers from my FCPS high school attended JMU. I just think with technology advances more students find out about other schools and apply OOS. When I graduated high school in 1996, most of us stayed in-state (to include large numbers to UVA, JMU, Tech, and W&M).

I graduated in 1997 from FFX and it was the backup school to Tech (which was backup to UVA). Lots of kids went b/c as PP said, most of us went in state.

James Madison University has only had the designation as a National University since 2022. It is classified as a R2 for Doctoral Research whereas universities in other states, typically flagships, have a R1 classification.

This doesn't matter to everyone. It matters to some - mattered a lot more prior to 2022

It has been popular for a few years at our MCPS HS, but I assumed that was as a result of it being the head counselor’s Alma mater.

The kids that go there from our school are your average kids- not the high achieving but not the lowest performers.

Anonymous wrote:JMU is a very popular school for my daughter‘s graduating class. I would say it has about the same number of kids enrolling as the university of Maryland. What was the appeal for local students? The proximity?
I don’t remember any kids from my graduating class going to jmu so I am genuinely curious. Was it always so popular or is it just on my radar now?

The kids I know who went there are bright, but not top students. So it is an easier admit (at least for now).
But the other thing those kids have in common are they wanted: Big School Football days; parties; drinking; Greek.

That does not apply to every kid I know -and there are a LOT of them- but I'd say 98%.

Tech was a safety school for us when my spouse and I enrolled at JMU in the 80’s.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its been popular since the 80s.

This is categorically false. Maybe "popular" but super easy to get into since the 00's based on my peers. Much different now even compared to 20 years ago.

What? The PP is absolutely correct. It's been popular since the 80s, if not before.

Anonymous wrote:I like JMU alot. My kid currently goes there and absolutely loves it. My other kid is in High School and has visited many times and probably will end up there....but I just cannot get past railroad tracks and an interstate going right through the middle of the campus. I feel like that would irritate the crap out of me. Makes everything more difficult to get to.

Neither of those are a 'thing' at all.

Anonymous wrote:No skin in the game but I feel there’s a lot to like about this school

+1
JMU has always been extremely popular. I grew up here in the 80s/90s and it was one of the most popular schools. It has something for everyone, is located in a lovely area, attracts smart, nice, well-rounded students. What's not to like?

I was there with DD for an audition, and walked around campus to while away the time. Didn’t mind the railroad crossing and thought the underpass to get around the highway was cool. Loved the little food delivery robots. The campus was okay otherwise, nothing remarkable about it. Probably had the best Thai food ever there. Looking forward to going back next year for the food.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its been popular since the 80s.

This is categorically false. Maybe "popular" but super easy to get into since the 00's based on my peers. Much different now even compared to 20 years ago.

Isnt rhat what PP said?

Anonymous wrote:Its been popular since the 80s.

This is categorically false. Maybe "popular" but super easy to get into since the 00's based on my peers. Much different now even compared to 20 years ago.

It’s definitely been very popular for Virginia students. Large numbers from my FCPS high school attended JMU. I just think with technology advances more students find out about other schools and apply OOS. When I graduated high school in 1996, most of us stayed in-state (to include large numbers to UVA, JMU, Tech, and W&M).