James Madison University
Harrisonburg, Virginia · Public
All 56 assessed programs leave graduates out-earning a typical Virginia high-school graduate (about $36,613/yr). Another 36 could not be assessed.
What would this cost you?
| Family income | Net price per year |
|---|---|
| Under $30k | $11,444 |
| $30k to $48k | $12,977 |
| $48k to $75k | $16,475 |
| $75k to $110k | $22,343 |
| $110k and up | $30,147 |
| All families (average) | $23,322 |
Net price is the yearly cost after grants and scholarships, by family income (College Scorecard). It reflects students who received federal aid.
Program earnings vs a high-school graduate
Earnings are measured four years after completion when available. Where four-year earnings are suppressed, one-year earnings are shown and marked 1-year earnings. One-year and four-year figures reflect different career stages and should not be compared as if measured at the same time.
56 of 92 programs could be assessed 61% have an earnings verdict
| Program | Degree | Median earnings | vs a high-school grad | Verdict | Median debt | Years to repay | Recent completers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mental Health and Counseling Services | Bachelor's Degree | $67,033 | +$30,420 | clears the bar | $20,500 | 0.7 yrs | 453 |
| Communications and Media | Bachelor's Degree | $66,436 | +$29,823 | clears the bar | $20,500 | 0.7 yrs | 399 |
| Education | Master's Degree | $58,739 | +$22,126 | clears the bar | $20,409 | 0.9 yrs | 286 |
| Nursing | Bachelor's Degree | $87,056 | +$50,443 | clears the bar | $19,350 | 0.4 yrs | 282 |
| Psychology | Bachelor's Degree | $56,212 | +$19,599 | clears the bar | $21,500 | 1.1 yrs | 272 |
| Kinesiology and Physical Education | Bachelor's Degree | $63,065 | +$26,452 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.7 yrs | 256 |
| Liberal Arts and General Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $58,026 | +$21,413 | clears the bar | $21,000 | 1.0 yrs | 243 |
| Marketing | Bachelor's Degree | $89,944 | +$53,331 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.4 yrs | 189 |
| Biology | Bachelor's Degree | $62,914 | +$26,301 | clears the bar | $20,594 | 0.8 yrs | 182 |
| Information Science | Bachelor's Degree | $113,345 | +$76,732 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.3 yrs | 155 |
| Finance | Bachelor's Degree | $104,926 | +$68,313 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.3 yrs | 140 |
| Business Administration | Bachelor's Degree | $85,137 | +$48,524 | clears the bar | $19,000 | 0.4 yrs | 129 |
| Hospitality Management | Bachelor's Degree | $65,016 | +$28,403 | clears the bar | $19,875 | 0.7 yrs | 122 |
| Fine Arts | Bachelor's Degree | $54,093 | +$17,480 | clears the bar | $22,125 | 1.3 yrs | 120 |
| Political Science | Bachelor's Degree | $73,326 | +$36,713 | clears the bar | $19,286 | 0.5 yrs | 117 |
| Computer and Information Science | Bachelor's Degree | $104,806 | +$68,193 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.3 yrs | 105 |
| Accounting | Bachelor's Degree | $98,767 | +$62,154 | clears the bar | $22,500 | 0.4 yrs | 89 |
| Economics | Bachelor's Degree | $86,681 | +$50,068 | clears the bar | $17,000 | 0.3 yrs | 85 |
| Science, Technology and Society | Bachelor's Degree | $82,455 | +$45,842 | clears the bar | $22,784 | 0.5 yrs | 82 |
| International Relations | Bachelor's Degree | $68,798 | +$32,185 | clears the bar | $18,138 | 0.6 yrs | 82 |
| Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology | Bachelor's Degree | $65,770 | +$29,157 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.7 yrs | 82 |
| Legal Research and Advanced Professional Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $61,496 | +$24,883 | clears the bar | $25,000 | 1.0 yrs | 80 |
| Music | Bachelor's Degree | $51,882 | +$15,269 | clears the bar | $20,968 | 1.4 yrs | 79 |
| Engineering, General | Bachelor's Degree | $91,761 | +$55,148 | clears the bar | $24,750 | 0.4 yrs | 67 |
| Geography and Cartography | Bachelor's Degree | $63,768 | +$27,155 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.7 yrs | 65 |
| Social Work | Bachelor's Degree | $52,991 | +$16,378 | clears the bar | $17,990 | 1.1 yrs | 64 |
| Theatre | Bachelor's Degree | $45,225 | +$8,612 | clears the bar | $19,000 | 2.2 yrs | 63 |
| Business Administration | Master's Degree | $150,316 | +$113,703 | clears the bar | $24,750 | 0.2 yrs | 62 |
| History | Bachelor's Degree | $55,782 | +$19,169 | clears the bar | $20,018 | 1.0 yrs | 61 |
| Healthcare Administration | Bachelor's Degree | $77,393 | +$40,780 | clears the bar | $19,500 | 0.5 yrs | 58 |
| Systems Science and Theory | Bachelor's Degree | $91,034 | +$54,421 | clears the bar | $21,500 | 0.4 yrs | 55 |
| Accounting | Master's Degree | $111,224 | +$74,611 | clears the bar | $20,500 | 0.3 yrs | 52 |
| Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology | Master's Degree | $69,342 | +$32,729 | clears the bar | $29,000 | 0.9 yrs | 51 |
| English | Bachelor's Degree | $57,487 | +$20,874 | clears the bar | $21,000 | 1.0 yrs | 49 |
| Public Administration | Bachelor's Degree | $71,626 | +$35,013 | clears the bar | $18,250 | 0.5 yrs | 48 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | Bachelor's Degree | $57,179 | +$20,566 | clears the bar | $21,891 | 1.1 yrs | 46 |
| Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | $75,295 | +$38,682 | clears the bar | $20,500 | 0.5 yrs | 45 |
| Linguistic, Comparative, and Related Language Studies and Services | Bachelor's Degree | $62,366 | +$25,753 | clears the bar | $18,879 | 0.7 yrs | 44 |
| Chemistry | Bachelor's Degree | $74,631 | +$38,018 | clears the bar | $23,750 | 0.6 yrs | 44 |
| Allied Health Diagnostics and Treatment | Master's Degree | $138,766 | +$102,153 | clears the bar | $88,050 | 0.9 yrs | 38 |
| Sociology | Bachelor's Degree | $48,774 | +$12,161 | clears the bar | $17,946 | 1.5 yrs | 37 |
| Biotechnology | Bachelor's Degree | $65,893 | +$29,280 | clears the bar | $21,000 | 0.7 yrs | 35 |
| School Counseling | Master's Degree | $58,228 | +$21,615 | clears the bar | insufficient data | insufficient data | 33 |
| Nursing | Master's Degree | $106,786 | +$70,173 | clears the bar | $29,000 | 0.4 yrs | 31 |
| Anthropology | Bachelor's Degree | $60,841 | +$24,228 | clears the bar | $20,500 | 0.8 yrs | 25 |
| Physical and Occupational Therapy | Master's Degree | $76,377 | +$39,764 | clears the bar | $46,918 | 1.2 yrs | 23 |
| Special Education | Master's Degree | $59,379 | +$22,766 | clears the bar | $20,250 | 0.9 yrs | 21 |
| Foods, Nutrition, and Related Services | Bachelor's Degree | $59,501 | +$22,888 | clears the bar | $16,375 | 0.7 yrs | 20 |
| Philosophy and Religious Studies, Other | Bachelor's Degree | $59,604 | +$22,991 | clears the bar | $21,250 | 0.9 yrs | 15 |
| Geology and Earth Science | Bachelor's Degree | $51,500 | +$14,887 | clears the bar | $21,500 | 1.4 yrs | 13 |
| Kinesiology and Physical Education | Master's Degree | $58,878 | +$22,265 | clears the bar | $18,092 | 0.8 yrs | 12 |
| Public Administration | Master's Degree | $81,363 | +$44,750 | clears the bar | insufficient data | insufficient data | 11 |
| International Business | Bachelor's Degree | $91,141 | +$54,528 | clears the bar | $16,250 | 0.3 yrs | 11 |
| Biology | Master's Degree | $45,933 1-year earnings | +$9,320 | clears the bar | insufficient data | insufficient data | 10 |
| Political Science | Master's Degree | $86,137 | +$49,524 | clears the bar | insufficient data | insufficient data | 10 |
| Education, Other | Master's Degree | $59,635 | +$23,022 | clears the bar | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data |
| Education, Other | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 26 |
| Physics | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 26 |
| Teacher Education (by level) | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 22 |
| Music | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 17 |
| Teacher Education (by level) | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 14 |
| Computer and Information Science | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 13 |
| Teacher Education (by subject) | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 13 |
| Psychology | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 13 |
| Business/Managerial Economics | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 13 |
| Educational Administration | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 12 |
| Applied Mathematics | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 11 |
| Counseling Psychology | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 11 |
| Communications and Media | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 10 |
| Music | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 9 |
| Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 9 |
| Educational/Instructional Media Design | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 8 |
| History | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 8 |
| Special Education | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 7 |
| Security Science and Technology | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 7 |
| Rhetoric and Composition/Writing Studies | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 6 |
| Psychology | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 6 |
| Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 4 |
| Interdisciplinary Studies | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 4 |
| Nursing | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 4 |
| Counseling Psychology | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 3 |
| Research Psychology | Doctoral Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 2 |
| Fine Arts | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 2 |
| English | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 1 |
| Allied Health Diagnostics and Treatment | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 1 |
| Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services, Other | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 0 |
| Special Education | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 0 |
| School Counseling | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 0 |
| Science, Technology and Society | Master's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 0 |
| Public Administration | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | 0 |
| Teaching English or French as a Second or Foreign Language | Bachelor's Degree | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data |
| Business Administration | Graduate/Professional Certificate | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data | insufficient data |
Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, release 2026-06-10. Earnings are medians measured four years after completion where available (programs shown with a 1-year figure are marked), compared with the state high-school-graduate benchmark ($36,613/yr). Debt is federal loans only. Suppressed values are shown as insufficient data, never imputed. Figures describe past graduates and are never a promise.