James Madison University's admit rate has held within a 17.5-point band over 8 reported cycles.
The headline numbers, drawn from CDS sections A–H.
Per-cycle Common Data Set values. Enrolled is first-year matriculants (CDS B1), not total undergraduate population. Blank cells mean the field was not published in that year's source CDS.
| Year | Admit rate | Enrolled | 6-yr grad | Retention | SAT (50th) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-2026 | 68.8% | 4,935 | 79.6% | — | 1,260 |
| 2024-2025 | 71.5% | 4,990 | — | — | — |
| 2023-2024 | 76.2% | 4,921 | 78.0% | 90.2% | 1,240 |
| 2022-2023 | 78.3% | 4,864 | 81.0% | 89.2% | — |
| 2021-2022 | 86.2% | 4,767 | 81.8% | 90.8% | — |
Cross-admits and statistical look-alikes, surfaced from the CollegeNumbers peer model.
Comparative observations derived from this school's reported CDS values and from IPEDS / College Scorecard reference data. Every claim is grounded in a number — no editorial overlay.
Admit rate has tightened 17.5 percentage points over 5 reporting cycles.
James Madison University's admit rate fell from 86.2% (2021-2022) to 68.8% (2025-2026) — a 17.5 pp drop. Year-over-year: 86.2 → 78.3 → 76.2 → 71.5 → 68.8. A snapshot of the current year alone would hide this structural shift.
Cross-admit cohort spans an unusually wide selectivity range.
The schools James Madison University applicants most commonly also apply to range from 16.8% admit to 86.5% admit — a 69.7 pp band. A reasonable read: applicants choose by region or program fit rather than selectivity tier alone.
Six-year graduation rate exceeds the national median by 23 percentage points.
James Madison University's 79.6% six-year graduation rate exceeds the national 4-year-institution median of 56.3% (per IPEDS, n=1555) by 23.3 pp.
Cross-admits concentrated in the home region.
4 of 5 cross-admit schools are in VA — James Madison University draws applicants weighing it against in-state and adjacent-state alternatives, not coastal or selective national peers.
Broadly accessible — admit rate near the national norm.
James Madison University's 68.8% admit rate is in line with the national 4-year-institution median of 76.6% (per IPEDS, n=1437 institutions). Most U.S. four-year colleges admit between 61.2% and 88.3% of applicants.
Sources: each school's officially-published Common Data Set; IPEDS / College Scorecard for federal comparisons. Methodology →
Compare every CDS field — admissions, aid, outcomes — side by side.
Open in CollegeNumbers compareThe Common Data Set is a standardized reporting form U.S. colleges file annually — sections A through J covering admissions selectivity, enrollment, aid, faculty resources, and outcomes. CollegeNumbers extracts every value directly from each school's officially published CDS PDF, xlsx, docx, or HTML, then normalizes into a unified schema.
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