Economics BS
Nearly every decision a person, business, or government makes involves trade-offs and can fall under the purview of economic analysis. In coursework for the Economics BS, students develop analytical and quantitative skills and apply their knowledge to a range of topics such as economic modeling, financial markets, and market analysis. Students also study the economy as a whole and analyze the sources of growth, recessions, and inflation, as well as government policies. The study of economics is an excellent way to learn how to apply analytical and quantitative skills to a range of interesting economic problems.
General Education Requirements
All undergraduate economics majors must meet the university and college general education requirements. Candidates for the B.A. degree may take any foreign language to meet this requirement. Candidates for the B.S. degree take mathematics and quantitative courses instead of the foreign language requirement. Courses in economics may be used to meet the university social sciences requirement.
Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory Option
Courses outside the major field and ECON 1001, Principles of Microeconomics, and ECON 1002, Principles of Macroeconomics, may be taken on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis.
Prerequisites
All prerequisites for economics courses must be completed with a C- or better.
Degree Requirements
Each required course must be completed with a grade of C- or better and students must maintain a GPA of 2.0 for courses used for the degree. Students may take no more than 45 credit hours of economics (ECON) courses in their degree requirements.
| Course Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| The following core courses are required: | ||
| ECON 1001 | Principles of Microeconomics (MOTR ECON 102) | 3 |
| ECON 1002 | Principles of Macroeconomics (MOTR ECON 101) | 3 |
| ECON 3001 | Intermediate Microeconomics | 3 |
| ECON 3002 | Intermediate Macroeconomics | 3 |
| ECON 4100 | Introduction to Econometrics | 4 |
| ECON 3100 | Economic Data and Statistics | 3 |
| or MATH 1320 | Introduction to Probability and Statistics | |
| or SCMA 3300 | Business Statistics | |
| MATH 1800 | Analytic Geometry and Calculus I (strongly recommended) | 3-5 |
| or MATH 1100 | Basic Calculus | |
| Select two of the following quantitative courses: | 6-8 | |
| Applied Econometrics | ||
| Time Series Econometrics for Economics and Finance | ||
| Business and Economic Forecasting | ||
| Mathematical Economics | ||
| Geospatial Analysis in the Social Sciences | ||
| Fundamentals of Cost-Benefit Analysis | ||
Mathematics courses numbered 1900 or above with consent of advisor. For each mathematics course used to meet the quantitative requirement, an additional three credit hours of ECON electives must be taken. | ||
Departmental Honors
A student may earn departmental honors with a GPA of 3.6 in economics and the recommendation of the department.
Complementary Areas of Study
The department encourages all majors to develop breadth in related disciplines. Course work and minors are available in a number of areas such as business administration, computer science, statistics, and political science. In addition, courses offered by the department are required for the B.S. in Actuarial Science and help satisfy the prerequisites for courses required for the Certificate in Actuarial Studies and have been approved by the Society of Actuaries (SOA) to satisfy the VEE requirements in Economics. Students should check with their advisers for recommendations concerning courses in these areas. The department suggests the following supplemental course work for students interested in pursuing doctoral-level graduate work in economics or careers in general business. It also encourages all students to obtain work experience by enrolling in the Internship in Applied Economics (ECON 4990) .
Graduate School Preparation
It is recommended that students considering doctoral-level graduate work in economics also take:
| Course Number | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| MATH 1900 | Analytic Geometry and Calculus II | 5 |
| MATH 2000 | Analytic Geometry and Calculus III | 5 |
| MATH 2020 | Introduction to Differential Equations | 3 |
| MATH 2450 | Elementary Linear Algebra | 3 |
| MATH 4100 | Real Analysis I | 3 |
| MATH 4200 | Mathematical Statistics I | 3 |
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of the program, graduates should be able to:
- Understand fundamental economic concepts including choice and opportunity cost. Use these to demonstrate an understanding of how markets work.
- Understand and evaluate individual, firm, and societal decision-making.
- Understand the determination of output, unemployment, and inflation in an economy.
- Explain the role and impact of fiscal and monetary policy.
- Learn to locate economic data and critically analyze patterns and relationships using basic statistical methods and statistical software.
- Use econometric techniques and statistical software to estimate, analyze and interpret relationships for business and policy applications.
Sample Four Year Plan
| First Year | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| INTDSC 1003 | 1 | ECON 1001 | 3 |
| ENGL 1100 | 3 | MATH 1800 | 5 |
| MATH 1045 | 5 | EXPLORE – Humanities and Fine Arts | 3 |
| CORE – Communication Proficiency | 3 | CORE – Information Literacy | 3 |
| EXPLORE - Humanities and Fine Arts | 3 | ||
| 15 | 14 | ||
| Second Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ECON 1002 | 3 | ECON 3002 | 3 |
| CORE – US History & Government | 3 | ECON 2000+ course | 3 |
| EXPLORE – Mathematics & Life/Natural Sciences | 3 | Global Perspectives Requirement | 3 |
| EXPLORE – Humanities & Fine Arts | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Global Perspectives Requirement | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Third Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ECON 3001 | 3 | ECON 4100 | 4 |
| ECON 3100 | 3 | ECON 2000+ course | 3 |
| ENGL 3100 | 3 | EXPLORE - Mathematics and Life/Natural Sciences | |
| CORE - US History and Government | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| 15 | 13 | ||
| Fourth Year | |||
| Fall | Hours | Spring | Hours |
| ECON 4XXX quantitative course | 3 | ECON 4XXX Quantitative course | 3 |
| ECON XXXX Economics Elective | 3 | ECON XXXX Economics Elective | 3 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| Elective or minor | 3 | Elective or minor | 3 |
| 15 | 15 | ||
| Total Hours: 117 | |||
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INTDSC 1003 is required only for first-time freshmen and transfer students with less than 26 college credits.
Please Note: This plan is an example of what a four year plan could look like for a typical student. Placement exam scores in math as well as the completion of coursework may change the plan. It should not be used in the place of regular academic advising appointments. All students are encouraged to meet with their advisor each semester. All requirements are subject to change.