Which JMU major has the lowest debt?

Linguistics and Language Studies graduates leave with a median of $18,398 in federal loans, the lowest among 39 JMU bachelor's programs that report debt.

How much does JMU cost?

In-state tuition and fees are $14,250 a year, and $31,604 for out-of-state students. After grants and scholarships, the average net price is $23,322 a year.

How many JMU programs report graduate pay?

39 bachelor's programs at JMU report first-year pay, and all of them also report federal debt.

JMU Programs, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

James Madison University
Public university
Harrisonburg, VA
20,888 undergraduates

College Scorecard June 2026 release

The short answer

39 JMU bachelor's programs report what graduates earn. Computer and Information Science pays the most in the first year ($81,761), and Theatre the least ($24,306). The median program pays $45,094.

In-state tuition and fees$14,250Per year. Out-of-state $31,604

Average net price after aid$23,322Per year

Graduation rate80%Within 6 years

Admission rate72%Of applicants

All 39 bachelor's programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. "Rank in Virginia" compares first-year pay with the same field's bachelor's programs across Virginia. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	Program	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Rank in Virginia
1	Computer and Information ScienceAbout 136 graduates a year	$81,761	$109,603	$21,470	4th of 14
2	Information ScienceAbout 149 graduates a year	$80,173	$111,126	$21,025	1st of 4
3	NursingAbout 286 graduates a year	$76,490	$79,692	$21,347	7th of 20
4	AccountingAbout 78 graduates a year	$71,563	$88,619	$22,484	2nd of 14
5	EngineeringAbout 66 graduates a year	$71,176	$88,212	$25,000	1st of 1
6	FinanceAbout 129 graduates a year	$67,849	$113,644	$20,500	1st of 5
7	Business AdministrationAbout 130 graduates a year	$65,931	$82,511	$19,750	4th of 28
8	Systems ScienceAbout 50 graduates a year	$65,683	$101,452	$22,301	1st of 1
9	EconomicsAbout 58 graduates a year	$62,286	$96,390	$18,575	4th of 12
10	MarketingAbout 170 graduates a year	$61,692	$85,936	$21,040	1st of 7
11	MathematicsAbout 43 graduates a year	$58,810	$82,836	$20,876	4th of 8
12	Science, Technology, and SocietyAbout 71 graduates a year	$54,235	$80,699	$23,875	1st of 1
13	Health and Medical AdministrationAbout 69 graduates a year	$53,913	$74,897	$21,118	2nd of 4
14	Liberal Arts and General StudiesAbout 146 graduates a year	$49,408	$53,680	$23,250	1st of 11
15	Public AdministrationAbout 56 graduates a year	$48,396	$69,552	$19,500	2nd of 2
16	Geology and Earth ScienceAbout 26 graduates a year	$48,118	$56,834	$22,375	1st of 1
17	Hospitality ManagementAbout 85 graduates a year	$46,915	$65,319	$22,250	1st of 4
18	ChemistryAbout 28 graduates a year	$45,799	Not reported	$25,332	2nd of 9
19	Linguistics and Language StudiesAbout 34 graduates a year	$45,122	$62,734	$18,398	1st of 5
20	GeographyAbout 61 graduates a year	$45,094	$60,642	$19,800	2nd of 3
21	International RelationsAbout 53 graduates a year	$44,667	$66,783	$18,460	3rd of 9
22	CommunicationsAbout 413 graduates a year	$42,769	$66,067	$21,502	3rd of 14
23	Political ScienceAbout 110 graduates a year	$42,128	$68,443	$20,000	6th of 16
24	BiotechnologyAbout 32 graduates a year	$41,832	Not reported	$20,209	1st of 1
25	Advanced Legal StudiesAbout 70 graduates a year	$40,966	$60,571	$25,000	1st of 1
26	MusicAbout 69 graduates a year	$36,106	$45,783	$20,968	2nd of 5
27	Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 272 graduates a year	$35,955	$65,422	$21,500	4th of 14
28	BiologyAbout 179 graduates a year	$34,159	$60,841	$23,000	9th of 25
29	Mental Health and Addiction ServicesAbout 415 graduates a year	$33,971	$67,436	$21,500	2nd of 2
30	Fine and Studio ArtsAbout 115 graduates a year	$33,501	$50,618	$23,001	2nd of 8
31	PsychologyAbout 330 graduates a year	$31,734	$57,124	$23,000	15th of 26
32	Social WorkAbout 44 graduates a year	$31,687	$54,376	$18,989	7th of 8
33	SociologyAbout 37 graduates a year	$31,513	$56,440	$19,168	10th of 11
34	AnthropologyAbout 23 graduates a year	$30,686	$54,211	$20,500	2nd of 5
35	HistoryAbout 69 graduates a year	$29,000	$57,370	$20,500	13th of 16
36	Other Philosophy and ReligionAbout 14 graduates a year	$28,712	Not reported	$24,734	1st of 1
37	EnglishAbout 39 graduates a year	$26,049	$49,084	$22,500	13th of 16
38	Foods and NutritionAbout 27 graduates a year	$24,860	$59,500	$19,000	2nd of 2
39	TheatreAbout 63 graduates a year	$24,306	$30,339	$18,500	2nd of 6

Program names link to the program's own page, and Virginia ranks link to the full ranking for the field. A program gets its own page when it reports both pay and debt and at least five Virginia programs in the field do too.

Some nursing bachelor's programs are for nurses who are already licensed and working (RN-to-BSN). College Scorecard counts them with programs for new students, and their graduates' pay reflects years of nursing experience, so high pay at a program here may not mean higher starting pay for a new nurse.

3 more bachelor's programs report debt but not pay, so they aren't listed.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Computer and Information Science$81,761
Information Science$80,173
Nursing$76,490
Accounting$71,563
Engineering$71,176

Lowest median debt

Linguistics and Language Studies$18,398
International Relations$18,460
Theatre$18,500
Economics$18,575
Social Work$18,989

Largest programs

Mental Health and Addiction ServicesAbout 415 graduates a year
CommunicationsAbout 413 graduates a year
PsychologyAbout 330 graduates a year
NursingAbout 286 graduates a year
Kinesiology and Exercise ScienceAbout 272 graduates a year

Common questions

Computer and Information Science graduates earn a median of $81,761 in their first year, the most of 39 JMU bachelor's programs that report pay.

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Tuition, net price, graduation rate, and admission rate are for the whole school, not one program.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Virginia rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
NCES, IPEDS tuition and fees, 2023-24, for in-district tuition labels