“A Presbyterian-rooted residential university on the North Dakota prairie, known for nursing, the arts, and the Jimmies”
The University of Jamestown is a private, Presbyterian-affiliated residential university founded in 1883 in Jamestown, North Dakota — a small prairie city roughly halfway between Fargo and Bismarck along Interstate 94. Originally chartered as Jamestown College by the Presbytery of Dakota, the institution remains affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and adopted the 'University of Jamestown' name in 2013 when it added its first applied doctorate. Enrolling around 1,370 students total — about 1,050 of them undergraduates — UJ is intentionally small, with most students living on the 110-acre central campus and a strong sense of being a tight-knit community where faculty know students by name. Academically, the university is best known for its School of Nursing (BSN, ASN, RN-to-BSN, and a Direct-Entry Master of Science in Nursing delivered with a Fargo simulation center), its Doctor of Physical Therapy program with a Direct-Entry pathway from high school, and a robust set of pre-health tracks including pre-pharmacy, pre-PT, and pre-medicine. Business, education, and the fine arts (music, theatre, graphic design) round out the most popular undergraduate majors, and the Reiland Fine Arts Center anchors a visible performing arts culture on campus. Athletics are central to the student experience: UJ fields the 'Jimmies' across more than two dozen NAIA varsity sports, and beginning in 2025–26 the program is competing in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) after several years in the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC). Roughly a quarter of undergraduates are recruited athletes, which heavily shapes campus rhythm. The setting is genuinely rural — winters are long and cold, the surrounding prairie is wide-open, and the city of Jamestown (population ~15,000) is a small, friendly community rather than a college town in the Midwest-urban sense.
Visa, OPT, H-1B alumni outcomes, and acceptance rates by country — sourced from FOIA, USCIS H-1B Hub, and DHS SEVIS.
Regional Universities Midwest
US News Best Colleges 2026
Test Optional — You can submit scores if they help your case, but they're not required.
Official SourceRolling Admission
No fixed deadline; decisions issued within ~1 week of completed file. Apply early as seats fill on a rolling basis.
International — 60 Days Prior to Term Start
International applications and credentials must be complete 60 days before the start of the intended term to allow I-20 processing and visa interview time.
The deep admissions playbook beyond the headline acceptance rate — round-by-round breakdowns, nationality data, requirements, and contact paths.
Tuition & Fees (All Students)
$24,990 – $25,161
/yr
Beyond the sticker price — every named scholarship, the financial aid policy, need-aware notes, and a personalized net-cost estimate.
How life on campus actually feels — clubs, sports, traditions, housing realities, and how the school integrates with its city.
Hybrid and on-campus nursing programs spanning ASN, traditional BSN, RN-to-BSN, and a Direct-Entry MSN delivered partly through a state-of-the-art simulation center in Fargo. Recent cohorts have posted 100% NCLEX pass rates.
Home of the CAPTE-accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy with a Direct Entry pathway that lets undergraduates (or strong high-school applicants) reserve a DPT seat while completing pre-PT coursework on the Jamestown campus.
Undergraduate business programs covering accounting, business administration, management, marketing, and a liberal-arts business studies track, plus communication and media programs.
Anchored by the Reiland Fine Arts Center, this school includes music, theatre, graphic design, and music education programs and stages multiple public productions and concerts each year.
Liberal-arts core supporting biology, chemistry, psychology, education, history, English, and the pre-professional health tracks (pre-pharmacy, pre-medicine, pre-PT, pre-OT).
7 years
Reserves a DPT seat for qualified high-school or early-undergraduate applicants pending successful undergraduate completion at UJ, eliminating the high-stakes external DPT application cycle for committed pre-PT students.
2 years
Hybrid DEMSN for non-nursing bachelor's holders that combines online didactics with in-person clinicals and a simulation center in Fargo, North Dakota. All graduates in the most recent two cohorts passed the NCLEX on first attempt.
4 years
Traditional residential BSN with sophomore-year application, capped cohort sizes, and clinicals at regional health systems including Essentia and Sanford. Prepares graduates for licensure as Registered Nurses in high-demand rural and metro markets.
Where alumni go after graduation — top industries, grad-school continuation, and the qualitative outcomes story.
Sticker price (annual, out-of-state): $24,990
Net-cost estimate is US-resident-only — international applicants are typically excluded from need-based aid at most schools and should treat the sticker price as the planning baseline.
