James Madison College is a college of public affairs and international relations within Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1967, "with a vision of creating a residential college merging the best attributes of a small college with an undergraduate education focusing on public affairs and firmly rooted in liberal arts"; the college was named after James Madison in honor of his role in writing the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Federalist Papers (which form part of the College's core curriculum). Originally considered experimental, the college has since come to be recognized as among the best in the nation.
The college was developed as part of MSU president John A. Hannah's attempts to increase the profile of the university and to capitalize off of the international and federal government contacts developed by the otherwise ignominious MSU Vietnam Project.
The Lyman Briggs College was also founded in 1967 on the same general principle as James Madison College, though teaching the natural sciences rather than public policy and political theory. A playful rivalry has since developed between the two colleges. A third college on the same general model and focusing on the humanities, the Residential College in Arts & Humanities, opened in 2007.
The administrative and faculty offices, classrooms, seminar rooms, and the library for the college are housed completely in Case Hall, where all James Madison students (also called "Madisonites" or "Madisonians") are required to live during their freshman year. About 320 students are admitted into the college each year, with the total student body currently around 1200. Classes in the college are small, with an average of 25 students, and are taught almost exclusively by tenure track faculty with PhDs or occasionally PhD candidates. Due to the restricted class size, enrollment in required courses can quickly fill up and many students find themselves on waiting lists.
James Madison College also has a relatively large number of academically successful students; about 15% of its students are in the Honors College and the college generally represents about 35% of the Phi Beta Kappa graduates at MSU each year (while representing only about 4% of the total graduates). Madison boasts numerous major award recipients, including 5 Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, 13 Fulbright Scholars, 8 Marshall Scholars, 4 National Science Foundation Fellows, and 1 George Mitchell Fellow.
Read more about James Madison College: Majors, Specializations, Student Life, Notable Graduates, Notable Professors
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