How many students attend James Madison University? How many will in the near future? Depending on who you ask, there are a lot of answers to those questions . . .

Current Enrollment (2007-2008)

• 16,546 (JMU - "On Campus Students")
• 15,868 (SCHEV - "Full Time Equivalent Regular Session Students")
• 18,100 (Daily News Record - "Enrolled in at least one class")

6-Year Projected Enrollment (2013-2014)

• 19,333 (SCHEV)
  
• 21,500 (Daily News Record)

As becomes apparent, depending on which numbers we compare, we would find a different growth rate.

• SCHEV to SCHEV shows 17% growth --- an increase of 2,787 students between 2007/08 and 2013/14.
  
• The Daily News Record article references an increase of 4,100 students, being a 24% increase. The article was written this past July, and thus they compared last year's enrollment figures (2006/07) with 2013/14projections.
  

Here's the rub --- growth of 2,787 is significantly different than 4,100 --- and growth to an enrollment of 19,333 is significantly different than 21,500. There are lots of ways to measure "JMU students" --- but since people are making decisions or coming to conclusions based on the statistics, I would encourage them to:

• Make sure you know what the numbers represent (any student taking one class vs. full time student residing in Harrisonburg, etc).
• If you are measuring growth, make sure you are comparing numbers derived using the same measurement tool.