page_title: Michigan State University academics
section_title: James Madison College
hierarchical_section_title: Michigan State University academics / Programs / James Madison College
context_page_description: Michigan State University offers over 200 academic programs at its East Lansing, Michigan campus. MSU is well known for its academic programs in education and agriculture, and the university pioneered the studies of packaging, horticulture and music therapy. MSU has one of the premier hospitality schools in the United States, and the study abroad program is the largest of any single-campus university in the nation, offering more than 300 programs in more than 60 countries on all continents, including Antarctica.
  As a research university, MSU is one of 60 members of the Association of American Universities. Since its inception as a small agricultural college in 1855, MSU has put a strong emphasis on research. Important discoveries made at MSU include hybrid corn, homogenized milk, anti-cancer drug cisplatin, and Germanium isotope Ge-60. Like other large American universities, MSU has many teaching assistants teaching upper-level courses. Michigan State University Ombudsman is the oldest continually operating ombudsman office at a college or university in the country.
context_section_description: James Madison College (JMC), one of MSU’s three residential colleges, started in 1967. The concept behind Madison College was to merge the best attributes of a small public affairs college with the resources of a major university. Though JMC started as an experiment, it is now a well-respected liberal arts program. Madison admits about 320 students each year, holding the total student body around 1,150. Classes in the college are small, with an average of 25 students, and most instructors are tenure track faculty with PhDs or occasionally PhD candidates. As a residential college, JMC has its classrooms, offices, and student housing together in Case Hall. As part of its "living-learning" philosophy, JMC requires freshmen students to live in Case during their freshman year.
  Madison offers majors, which students choose at the end of their freshman year. The four majors are Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy, International Relations, Social Relations and Policy, and Comparative Cultures and Politics. All of JMC’s majors require two years of foreign language and one "field experience”, either in the form of an internship or study abroad program. James Madison College also has a fairly large amount of academically successful students. Madison boasts numerous major award recipients, including Rhodes, Truman, Fulbright and Marshall Scholars to name a few. About 15% of its students are in the Honors College and though JMC only represents about 4% of MSU graduates the college, they make up around 35% of the MSU’s Phi Beta Kappa members.
caption: The South Campus skyline
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